Create or import a Reality mapping workspace—ArcGIS Pro

Available for an ArcGIS organization with the ArcGIS Reality license.

A Reality mapping workspace is dedicated to Reality mapping workflows and is a container in an ArcGIS Pro project folder for the resources and derived files of a single image collection in one Reality mapping task. It contains an image collection to be adjusted, which is managed using the mosaic dataset data model; the generated Reality mapping products; internal files used in the adjustment process; and necessary information that manages the workspace.

You can copy or delete a Reality mapping workspace. You can have more than one Reality mapping workspace in a project, in which each workspace opens its own map view. It is recommended that you use one project for each Reality mapping task. You can use multiple Reality mapping workspaces to manage the different versions of Reality mapping tasks.

You can create a Reality mapping workspace from drone imagery, digital aerial imagery, satellite imagery, or an existing mosaic dataset managing drone, aerial digital, or satellite imagery. The type of Reality mapping workspace created defines the methods and algorithms that are used to process the image type. Using the New Workspace wizard button on the Imagery tab, you can create a Reality mapping workspace from a collection of images or an existing mosaic dataset, and you can import or add from an existing Reality mapping or Ortho mapping workspace.

Import a workspace

When you choose the Import Workspace option, a copy of the selected workspace is added to the ArcGIS Pro project and stored in the appropriate workspace container in the Catalog pane. The source workspace identified for copying remains in its original location. Follow the steps below to import an existing workspace.

With the ArcGIS Pro project open, click the Imagery tab on the main menu, click the New Workspace drop-down list, and click Import Workspace .
The Import Workspace dialog box appears.
If you're importing an existing workspace as a Reality mapping workspace, ensure that the Import As option is set to Reality Mapping Workspace. If you're importing as an Ortho mapping workspace, set the Import As option to Ortho Mapping Workspace.
Under Workspace, click the Browse button to open the browse window. Ensure that the existing workspace type filter is set appropriately, select the workspace to import, and click OK.
If you import an existing Reality mapping workspace that has derived products generated, you can import those products using the Copy derived products if they exist option. If this option is checked, the duration of the import process increases significantly.
If you import an existing Ortho mapping workspace that has derived products generated as a Reality mapping workspace, the Ortho mapping products are not transferred.
Click OK to start the import process.
Once complete, the imported workspace is added to the appropriate workspace container in the Catalog pane and automatically opens in the 2D map window.

Add a workspace

The Add Workspace option creates a link to the selected workspace in the ArcGIS Pro project. The linked workspace is stored in the appropriate workspace container in the Catalog pane. Any processing that is done on the linked workspace impacts the original workspace. Follow the steps below to add an existing workspace to an ArcGIS Pro project.

With the ArcGIS Pro project open, click the Imagery tab on the main menu, click the New Workspace drop-down list, and click Add Workspace .
The Add Workspace dialog box appears.
Ensure that the existing workspace type filter is set appropriately, select the workspace to add, and click OK.
The linked workspace is added the to the appropriate workspace container in the Catalog pane.

Create a Reality mapping workspace

The Reality Mapping Workspace wizard guides you through the creation of a Reality mapping workspace for digital aerial, drone, and satellite imagery. Detailed workflow instructions for each type of imagery, and for mosaic datasets, are found in the following topics:

Create a workspace for a specific sensor data type

When you choose New Workspace, the Create a New Workspace wizard pane opens. The wizard guides you through the process of creating a Reality mapping workspace or an Ortho mapping workspace. Depending on the type of workspace specified, the wizard pane presents appropriate options such as type of sensor data; location of the source image collection, camera, or sensor model files; and spatial reference system.

The types of Reality mapping workspaces that you can create for image data are listed below:

When you complete the workflow in the New Workspace wizard, a Reality mapping folder appears in the project folder structure in the Catalog pane, and you can use the List by Reality Mapping Entities list view Geometric in the Contents pane to view all the Reality mapping workspace entities created by the wizard.

The entities in the Reality mapping workspace vary depending on the Sensor Data Type option specified during workspace creation.


Entity group	Entity	Description
Data Products	Digital Surface Model (DSM)	A model of the surface, including above-ground features such as tree canopies and buildings calculated from overlapping images.
	True Ortho	A mosaicked or tiled orthoimage in which ground and above-ground features are orthogonally projected. Computed transformation information is stored for each image.
	DSM Mesh	A 2.5D textured model of the project area in which the imagery is draped on a triangulated irregular network (TIN) version of the DSM. It is recommended that you use nadir images to create this entity.
	Point Cloud	A model of the project area defined by high-density, colored 3D points, photogrammetrically extracted from the adjusted overlapping imagery.
	3D Mesh	A 3D textured model of the project area in which the ground and above feature facades are accurately reconstructed. The 3D mesh can be viewed from any angle to get a realistically accurate depiction of the area.
Solution Data	Solution Table	The computed transformation information for each image. ImageID—The image identification number. This is the same value as the OBJECTID field in the mosaic dataset footprint table. RMS—The average root mean square (RMS) error for all the solution points in each image. RMS is expressed in pixel units. Quality—The quality of the adjustment for each image. A value of 1 indicates perfect quality.
Solution Data	Solution Points	All points resulting from the bundle block adjustment computation, such as the points in 3D ground coordinates. ImageID—The image identification number. This is the same value as the OBJECTID field in the mosaic dataset footprint table. PointID—The block adjustment solution points derived from the corresponding tie points having the same PointID value. Type—A coded field that indicates the coordinate space of the point: 0—Adjusted solution point with x-,y-, and z-coordinates in map space. 1—Image point with row and column coordinates in image space. Status—A coded field that defines whether the point is used in the block adjustment: 0—Points that are excluded from the block adjustment computation. 1—Points that are included in the block adjustment computation. Residual—Residual error of the adjusted solution point. The unit is pixels. XResidual—Residual error in the x-direction of the adjusted solution point. The unit is pixels. YResidual—Residual error in the y-direction of the adjusted solution point. The unit is pixels.
QA/QC Data	Overlap Polygons	Contains control point coverage in areas where images overlap. You can identify areas that need additional control points to improve block adjustment results. Control points include ground control points (GCPs), tie points, and check points. ImageID—The image identification number. This is the same value as the OBJECTID field in the mosaic dataset footprint table. ImageID2—The image identification number of the image that overlaps the corresponding ImageID value. ID—A unique identifier for the overlapping images consisting of ImageID and ImageID2 values, delimited by a period. Count—The number of overlapping images assessed. PointCount—The number of control points in the overlapping area. PointCoverage—The percentage of the overlap area covered by control points. Multirays—The number of unique PointID values or tie point sets in the overlap area. Mask—A coded field that indicates whether the overlap area will be used when computing tie points: 1—The overlap area will be excluded in the computation. 2—The overlap area will be included in the computation.
QA/QC Data	Coverage Polygons	Contains control point coverage for each image in the image collection. You can identify areas that need additional control points to improve the block adjustment results. Control points include GCPs, tie points, and check points. ImageID—The image identification number. This is the same value as the OBJECTID field in the mosaic dataset footprint table. Coverage—The percentage of image area covered by control points. Count—The number of control points in the image. Multirays—The number of unique PointID values or tie point sets in the image.
Control Points	Ground Control Points	Points with known ground coordinates, typically generated from a ground survey.
	Check Points	Points with known ground coordinates that are used for assessing the accuracy of the adjustment process. These are ground control survey points, which are not used in computing the photogrammetric solution.
	Tie Points	Points representing pairs of pixels that correspond to the same location where images overlap. Tie points do not have known ground coordinates, but each has image coordinates in rows and columns. ImageID—The image identification number. This is the same value as the OBJECTID field in the mosaic dataset footprint table. PointID—The point identification number. This value represents the same point location over the various overlapped images. Type—A code that defines the type of control point that the row represents: 1—Tie point 2—Ground control point 3—Check point 4—Manual tie point Status—A code that defines the status of the point: 0—The points are not used in the block adjustment computation. 1—The points are used in the block adjustment computation. Score—A score that is generated by the matching algorithm, which is based on image correlation. The value range for the score is 0.0 to 1.0 in which a score of 0 is the best match. Rays—The number of points that have the same PointID value. V1 and V2—If the Type field is equal to 2 or 3 (GCP or check point), the values indicate the accuracy of the control points, expressed in meters: V1 is the x,y accuracy of the control point. V2 is the z accuracy of the control point. If the x,y accuracy or z accuracy is not available, a value of -2 means that the accuracy is unknown. If you want the system to calculate the accuracy, type a value of -1 in the field.
Flight Data	Flight Path	The flight path of the drone imaging platform.
Flight Data	Camera Locations	The drone sensor location and pointing information at the moment of image capture, including latitude, longitude, altitude, and time.
Source Data	Image Collection	The mosaic dataset created to manage the source imagery for the Ortho mapping workspace.

To learn about adjusting imagery, see Block adjustment.

Rename a Reality mapping workspace

When you open a Reality mapping workspace in ArcGIS Pro, it creates a map in the Maps container with the same name as the workspace name.

Note:

You can rename a Reality mapping workspace if it is a copy of an existing workspace and no additional processes have been run on the new copy.

Later, if you rename the workspace in the Reality mapping container in the Catalog pane, the map stored in the Maps container is not renamed. The renamed workspace remains linked to the original map in the Maps container. As a result, the following error occurs when you try to open the attribute table of the mosaic dataset.

Additionally, other issues are evident when you open the renamed workspace because it tries to load data using the original name.

Broken links after renaming the Reality mapping workspace

In the Contents pane, all previously working layers are moved to the Reference Data category with a broken source icon Repair Broken Data Source . You can resolve the issue by following the steps below.

Remove the broken layers.
Right-click Data Products, Solution Data, QA/QA Data and other existing related data, and click the Synchronize option.
The correct data is linked to the renamed workspace and loaded into the map. This allows you to retain the existing map symbology.
Alternatively, delete the related map in the Maps container.
When you open the renamed workspace, a new map opens using the renamed name with correct paths. However, since you are starting with a new map, everything you saved in the original map—such as symbology or other reference layers—is lost.