Building pyramids and calculating statistics when prompted by ArcGIS

When you add a raster dataset that does not have pyramids or statistics into ArcGIS Pro, you will be prompted to build pyramids and calculate statistics.

Building pyramids

Pyramids are reduced-resolution overviews of the data at different scales. Pyramids are useful because they improve the drawing speed for raster datasets displayed at less than their full resolution. It is recommended that you always build pyramids for large raster datasets.

Options on the Build Pyramids dialog box

Yes	Click Yes to build pyramids for the raster dataset. This dialog box will not return again for this particular raster dataset since the pyramids will exist.
No	Click No if you do not want to build pyramids for the raster dataset. Selecting this option means your raster will not be displayed as quickly as it could, and this dialog box will be displayed again if the dataset is added to the application again.
Cancel	Click Cancel so the raster dataset is not added to the display and the pyramids will not be built. Choose this option if you picked the wrong raster dataset to display, or want to build pyramids using a different method.
Always use this choice	Check this box if you do not want this dialog box to appear again and you want to always make the same choice. You can choose a different option on the Options > Raster and Imagery > Raster Dataset tab.
Resampling method	Defines how the data will be resampled when building the pyramids. Nearest Neighbor—Used for nominal data or raster datasets with color maps, such as land-use or pseudo color images. Bilinear—Used with continuous data, such as satellite imagery or aerial photography. Cubic—Used with continuous data, such as satellite imagery or aerial photography. It is similar to bilinear interpolation, however, it resamples the data using a larger matrix which results in a smoother appearance.
Compression method	Defines the method used when compressing the pyramids. Default—This uses the compression that is normally used by the raster dataset format. LZ77—A lossless compression. The values of the cells in the raster will not be changed. JPEG—A lossy compression. JPEG_YCbCr—A lossy compression using the luma (Y) and chroma (Cb and Cr) color space components. None—No data compression.
Compression quality	Specifies the compression quality when either JPEG or JPEG_YCbCr compression is chosen. Valid values range from 1 to 100, where a higher number means better image quality but less compression.

When you choose to build the pyramids, they are created for the whole raster dataset, including all the bands, according to the defaults in the application. To change the default settings for building pyramids and displaying this dialog box, see Change the default setting for building pyramids and calculating statistics. Optionally, you can use the Build Pyramids and modify the environment settings.

You can build pyramids for each raster dataset within the mosaic dataset, and you can build overviews for a mosaic dataset but only using specific tools in the Mosaic Dataset toolset.

Calculating statistics

Statistics are required for your raster datasets to perform certain tasks, such as applying a contrast stretch or classifying your data. Calculating statistics allows for a better display.

Options on the Calculate Statistics dialog box

Yes	Click Yes to calculate statistics for the raster dataset. This dialog box will not return again for this particular raster dataset since the statistics will exist.
No	Click No if you do not want to calculate statistics for the raster dataset. Selecting this option means your raster will not be displayed as well as it could, and this dialog box will be displayed again if the dataset is added to the application again.
Cancel	Click Cancel so the raster dataset is not added to the display and the statistics will not be calculated. Choose this option if you picked the wrong raster dataset to display, or want to calculate statistics using a different method.
Always use this choice	Check this box if you do not want this dialog box to appear again and you want to always make the same choice. You can choose a different option on the Options > Raster and Imagery > Raster Dataset tab.
X Skip Factor	The number of horizontal pixels between samples. A skip factor controls the portion of the raster that is used when calculating the statistics. The input value indicates the horizontal or vertical skip factor, where a value of 1 will use each pixel and a value of 2 will use every second pixel. The skip factor can only range from 1 to the number of columns/rows in the raster. The value must be greater than zero and less than or equal to the number of columns in the raster. The default is 1 or the last x skip factor used.
Y Skip Factor	The number of vertical pixels between samples. A skip factor controls the portion of the raster that is used when calculating the statistics. The input value indicates the horizontal or vertical skip factor, where a value of 1 will use each pixel and a value of 2 will use every second pixel. The skip factor can only range from 1 to the number of columns/rows in the raster. The value must be greater than zero and less than or equal to the number of rows in the raster. The default is 1 or the last y skip factor used.

Building Pyramids and Calculating Statistics

When both pyramids and statistics do not exist on a raster dataset, you will be prompted with both the options of building pyramids and calculating statistics together where you can choose to run either or both of these two options.

Options on the Build Pyramids and Calculate Statistics dialog box

Parameters such as Resampling method, Compression method, and Compression quality for building pyramids and X Skip Factor, and Y Skip Factor for calculating statistics from the above two dialog boxes appear here as well, along with the options mentioned below.

Build	Check this box if you want to build pyramids on the raster dataset.
Calculate	Check this box if you want to calculate pyramids on the raster dataset.
OK	Click OK to build pyramids and calculate statistics for the raster dataset. This works based on the check box selected for building pyramids and calculating statistics. This dialog box will not return again for this particular raster dataset since the pyramids and statistics will exist.
Cancel	Click Cancel so the raster dataset is not added to the display and the pyramids and statistics will not be calculated. Choose this option if you picked the wrong raster dataset to display, or want to build pyramids and calculate statistics using a different method.