Calculating statistics in ArcCatalog

You can use the geoprocessing tools within ArcGIS to calculate statistics for your raster datasets, or you can identify one or more raster datasets in ArcCatalog or the Catalog window and open the appropriate tool from the context menu.

Statistical information will be written to the proxy file location if the raster dataset file is read-only or if the file is stored in a read-only permission directory.

Tip:

If your raster dataset displays as a solid color (often black), you should check to see if statistics are present. If they are not, you should calculate the statistics.

To check if there are statistics calculated for your raster dataset, see Viewing raster statistics.

Steps:

1. Select one or more raster datasets. If you are selecting raster datasets within a mosaic dataset or raster catalog, do the following:
   1. In ArcCatalog, click the mosaic dataset or raster catalog in the Catalog tree.
   2. Select the raster datasets on the Contents tab.

   You can select multiple raster datasets using the SHIFT or CTRL keys.

2. Right-click the raster dataset or selection of raster datasets and click Calculate Statistics.

   This opens the appropriate geoprocessing tool.

3. Optionally, type skip factors to use while calculating statistics.

   A skip factor of 1 for both row and column means every cell in the raster will be used in the calculation, resulting in the most accurate statistics. One way to identify a reasonable skip factor value is to divide the number of columns by 1,000 and use the quotient (integer) as the skip factor.

4. Optionally, type a value you want to ignore when calculating statistics.

   This is frequently the background value, which is often a value of 0. Eliminating such a value can result in a more accurate, and perhaps more representative, calculation of statistics. If your raster dataset contains a NoData value, you will not be able to specify an ignore value.

5. Click OK.

Tip:

If you want to clear the statistics that have been calculated for your raster dataset, this can be performed on the Raster Dataset Properties dialog box.