An overview of the Extraction toolset

Available with Spatial Analyst license.

The Extraction tools allow you to extract a subset of cells from a raster by either the cells' attributes or their spatial location. You can also obtain the cell values for specific locations as an attribute in a point feature class or as a table.

The tools that extract cell values based on their attribute or location to a new raster include the following:

• Extracting cells by attribute value (Extract by Attributes) is accomplished through a where clause. For example, your analysis may require an extraction of cells higher than 100 meters in elevation from an elevation raster.

• Extracting cells by the geometry of their spatial location requires that groups of cells meeting a criteria of falling within or outside a specified geometric shape (Extract by Circle, Extract by Polygon, Extract by Rectangle).

• Extracting cells by specific locations requires that you identify those locations either by their x,y point locations (Extract by Points) or through cells identified using a mask raster (Extract by Mask).

The tools that allow you to specify the locations for which to extract cell values to an attribute table or a regular table include the following:

• Cell values identified by a point feature class can be recorded as an attribute of a new output feature class (Extract Values to Points). This will only extract the values from one input raster.

• Cell values identified by a point feature class can be appended to the attribute table of that feature class (Extract Multi Values to Points). Cell values from multiple rasters can also be identified.

• The cell values for identified locations (both raster and feature) can be recorded in a table (Sample).

The following table lists the available tools and provides a brief description of each.

Tools in the Extraction toolset

Tool	Description
Extract by Attributes	Extracts the cells of a raster based on a logical query.
Extract by Circle	Extracts the cells of a raster based on a circle by specifying the circle's center and radius.
Extract by Mask	Extracts the cells of a raster that correspond to the areas defined by a mask.
Extract by Points	Extracts the cells of a raster based on a set of coordinate points.
Extract by Polygon	Extracts the cells of a raster based on a polygon by specifying the polygon's vertices.
Extract by Rectangle	Extracts the cells of a raster based on a rectangle by specifying the rectangle's extent.
Extract Multi Values to Points	Extracts cell values at locations specified in a point feature class from one or more rasters and records the values to the attribute table of the point feature class.
Extract Values to Points	Extracts the cell values of a raster based on a set of point features and records the values in the attribute table of an output feature class.
Sample	Creates a table or a point feature class that shows the values of cells from a raster, or a set of rasters, for defined locations. The locations are defined by raster cells, points, polylines, or polygons.