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Use mosaic datasets to manage imagery

Many organizations have large, growing libraries of imagery and raster data. These libraries include source imagery and metadata from multiple sensor platforms and vendors, as well as diverse collections of imagery-derived products. Despite the many potential applications, this imagery may be poorly managed, making it difficult to locate, access, query, and share.

A mosaic dataset in ArcGIS Pro is one way to manage imagery in ArcGIS. A mosaic dataset is a type of catalog that references the source data, maintains relevant metadata, and defines the processing to be applied to the rasters. Mosaic datasets ensure that imagery or raster collections can be appropriately displayed, queried, analyzed, and shared.

A mosaic dataset provides dynamic mosaicking and on-the-fly processing to generate products. You can use it to manage mosaicking rules, seamlines, raster type, and processing parameters. For supported file formats, the raster type is designed to display an image properly and set up processing parameters with minimal user input. Processing parameters, whether defined manually or by raster type, are specified using raster function templates (RFTs), which apply an in-memory processing workflow for fast, dynamic visualization and analysis.

A mosaic dataset can be created from a range of sources including the following:

  • Collections of image tiles that together form a single large image
  • Collections of overlapping multispectral satellite scenes such that each scene or a mosaic of scenes is accessed
  • Collections of aerial or drone imagery that together form a mosaic
  • Collections of elevation data for representing digital terrain models, digital surface models or bathymetry data
  • Scientific data sources representing different phenology

A single mosaic dataset can contain images that have different pixel sizes, projections, or dates. The images may already be georeferenced to the ground or as in the case for imagery directly from satellites or aerial platforms—the parameterized sensor model can be defined and the required transformations applied on the fly. When the images are accessed, ArcGIS applies the defined transform for each image and mosaics them together based on rules that are defined by in the mosaic dataset or refined by the end user.

As data models for image management, mosaic datasets allow you to define references to many imagery sources and metadata and the transformations for how to convert the imagery into suitable products. The source imagery can remain in its original form, and the mosaic dataset is used to define new virtual images with the processing applied on the fly, removing the need to create additional datasets.

A mosaic dataset is optimized for sharing an imagery collection. When used as an image service, it makes the imagery, metadata, and RFTs accessible to desktop, web, and mobile applications. Alternatively, a mosaic dataset can be persisted as single large raster dataset, cached as a tile cache, and shared as a static basemap.

Note:
To view mosaic datasets or create tile cache, you need ArcGIS Pro Basic. To create and edit mosaic datasets, you need ArcGIS Pro (Standard or Advanced). To use mosaic datasets as dynamic image services, you need ArcGIS Enterprise with ArcGIS Image Server. To host raster tile cache, you can use ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Server.

Imagery Workflows resources

Review the community-supported tools and best practices for working with and automating imagery and remote sensing workflows:

ArcGIS help

Review the following links on reference materials for ArcGIS products:

ArcGIS blog

Learn how to georeference items in a mosaic dataset.

Videos

Review the following Esri-produced videos that clarify and demonstrate concepts, software functionality, and workflows:

Training and tutorials

Watch Managing Raster Data Using ArcGIS (2-hour web course) to learn how to use mosaic datasets to enable data storage and fast visual performance.

Developer resources

Visit the MDCS GitHub repository to download a Python script to help automate the creation and configuration of mosaic datasets.

Esri Community

Visit the Esri Imagery and Remote Sensing community to connect, collaborate, and share experiences regarding mosaic datasets.

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