An overview of the Spatial Analyst functions

The Spatial Analyst module (arcpy.sa) supports many functions in ArcPy for processing and creating rasters or raster objects. They are organized into related groupings in the following categories: Analysis, Appearance, Band Indices, Classification, Conversion, Correction, Data Management, Math, Reclass, Statistical, and Surface.

Some functions available with the arcpy.sa module require a Spatial Analyst or an Image Analyst license. Where applicable, the extension license requirements for each function are listed in the table below. All other functions can be used with an ArcGIS Pro Basic license.

If the function requires a license and you are working with a Concurrent Use license, you can use the CheckOutExtension function to access the functionality.

The geoprocessing tools available in the Spatial Analyst toolbox are also available as geoprocessing functions in the arcpy.sa module.

Analysis

Function	Description	License requirement
Anomaly	Creates a raster object that contains the anomaly pixel values of the input multidimensional raster based on a time-dimension interval and the anomaly calculation method.	Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst
Apply	Creates a raster object by applying a raster function or function chain to one or more input rasters.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Foreach	Creates a raster object by applying a raster function or a customized function template to every slice in the input multidimensional raster.	Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst
HeatIndex	Calculates apparent temperature based on ambient temperature and relative humidity. The apparent temperature is often described as how hot it feels to the human body.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
TasseledCap	Creates a raster object by applying a tasseled cap transformation on an input raster.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Threshold	Creates a raster object by dividing an input raster into two distinct classes, where a high-value class is displayed with white pixels and a low-value class is displayed with black pixels.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
WindChill	Identifies dangerous winter conditions that, depending on exposure times to the elements, can result in frostbite or hypothermia.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Appearance

Function	Description	License requirement
ContrastBrightness	Creates an enhanced image by improving the contrast and brightness of the source image.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Convolution	Performs filtering on the pixel values in an image, which can be used for sharpening an image, blurring an image, detecting edges within an image, or other kernel-based enhancements.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Pansharpen	Creates a higher-resolution multiband image by fusing a lower-resolution multispectral image and a higher-resolution panchromatic image.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Render	Creates a rendered raster object by applying symbology to the referenced raster dataset. This function is useful when displaying data in a Jupyter notebook.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
StatisticsHistogram	Computes the statistics and histogram of a raster.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Stretch	Enhances an image by changing properties such as brightness, contrast, and gamma through multiple stretch types based on statistics.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
VectorFieldRenderer	Visualize flow direction and magnitude information in your raster with vector symbols.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Band Indices

Function	Description	License requirement
BAI	Calculates the Burn Area Index (BAI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
CIg	Calculates the Green Chlorophyll Index (CIg) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
CIre	Calculates the Red-Edge Chlorophyll Index (CIre) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
ClayMinerals	Calculates the Clay Minerals (CM) ratio from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
EVI	Calculates the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
FerrousMinerals	Calculates the Ferrous Minerals (FM) ratio from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
GEMI	Calculates the Global Environmental Monitoring Index (GEMI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
GNDVI	Calculates the Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
GVITM	Calculates the Green Vegetation Index for Landsat TM (GVITM) from a Landsat TM image and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
IronOxide	Calculates the Iron Oxide (IO) ratio from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
MSAVI	Calculates the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI2) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
MTVI2	Calculates the Modified Triangular Vegetation Index (MTVI2) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
NBR	Calculates the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
NDBI	Calculates the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
NDMI	Calculates the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
NDSI	Calculates the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
NDVI	Calculates the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
NDVIre	Calculates the Red-Edge Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVIre) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
NDWI	Calculates the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
PVI	Calculates the Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
RTVICore	Calculates the Red-Edge Triangulated Vegetation Index (RTVICore) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
SAVI	Calculates the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
SRre	Calculates the Red-Edge Simple Ratio (SRre) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Sultan	Calculates Sultan's formula from a six-band 8-bit raster object and returns a three-band 8-bit raster object.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
TSAVI	Calculates the Transformed Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (TSAVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
VARI	Calculates the Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Classification

Function	Description	License requirement
Classify	Classifies a raster dataset based on an Esri Classifier Definition file (.ecd) and raster dataset inputs.	Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst
LinearUnmixing	Performs subpixel classification and calculates the fractional abundance of land cover types for individual pixels.	Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst
RegionGrow	Groups adjacent pixels together depending on the specified radius from the seed point.	Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst
SegMeanShift	Groups adjacent pixels together that have similar spectral and spatial characteristics.	Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

Conversion

Function	Description	License requirement
Colormap	Transforms the pixel values to display the raster data as either a grayscale or an RGB color image based on a color scheme or specific colors in a color map file.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
ColormapToRGB	Converts a single-band raster with a color map to a three-band (red, green, and blue) raster.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
ColorspaceConversion	Converts the color model of a three-band unsigned 8-bit image from either the hue, saturation, and value (HSV) to red, green, and blue (RGB) or vice versa.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Complex	Computes the magnitude from complex values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Grayscale	Converts a multiband image into a single-band grayscale image. Specified weights are applied to each of the input bands, and a normalization is applied for output.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
RasterizeFeatures	Converts a polygon, polyline, or point feature class to a raster object.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
SpectralConversion	Applies a matrix to a multiband image to affect the color values of the output.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
UnitConversion	Converts pixels from one unit to another. It supports conversion of distance, speed, and temperature.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
VectorField	Combines and converts two rasters into a two-band raster that is of either data type Magnitude-Direction or data type U-V.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Correction

Function	Description	License requirement
Speckle	Creates a raster object by removing speckle and smoothing out noise in radar datasets, while retaining edges and sharp features in the image.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Data Management

Function	Description	License requirement
ApplyEnvironment	Creates a new raster that is a copy of the input raster with the current environment settings being applied.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
CompositeBand	Creates a raster object by combining multiple rasters to form a multiband image.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
ExtractBand	Creates a raster object by extracting one or more bands from, or reordering the bands in, a multiband raster.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Mask	Creates a raster object by specifying one or more NoData values or a range of valid pixel values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Resample	Creates a raster object by changing the spatial resolution of the input raster and sets rules for aggregating or interpolating values across the new pixel sizes.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Subset	Creates a raster object that is a subset of the input multidimensional raster based on selected variables and dimension intervals.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
TransposeBits	Creates a raster object by unpacking the bits of the input pixel and mapping them to specified bits in the output pixel. The purpose of this function is to manipulate bits from a couple of inputs, such as the Landsat 8 quality band products.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Math

Function	Description	License requirement
Arithmetic	Performs an arithmetic operation between two rasters or between a raster and a scalar and returns a raster object with the operation applied.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
BandArithmetic	Performs an arithmetic operation on the bands of a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the operation applied.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
RasterCalculator	Provides access to all existing math functions and returns a raster object with the mathematical operation applied.	Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

Reclass

Function	Description	License requirement
Remap	Categorizes the pixel values of a raster object into groups with specific values.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
ZonalRemap	Categorizes the pixel values of a raster object into groups based on zones defined in another raster and zone-dependent value mapping defined in a table.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Statistical

Function	Description	License requirement
ArgStatistics	Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the band index at which that pixel reached the statistical argument. If the input raster is multidimensional, the output raster object will contain dimension values instead of band indices.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
Statistics	Calculates statistics for each cell of an image based on a defined focal neighborhood.	ArcGIS Pro Basic

Surface

Function	Description	License requirement
AspectSlope	Creates a raster object that simultaneously displays the aspect and slope of a surface.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
ElevationVoidFill	Creates pixels on a raster object where holes exist in the elevation.	ArcGIS Pro Basic
ShadedRelief	Creates a color 3D representation of the terrain by merging the images from the elevation-coded and hillshade methods.	ArcGIS Pro Basic