Do referenced mosaic datasets show updates in Portal?

Question

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/allow-elevation-web-layer-to-be-overwritten/idc-p/1648891#M36114

This idea from 2023 asks if Esri can introduce the capability to overwrite elevation layers. I think that's a great idea, but I'm also wondering if currently referenced mosaic datasets will show updates in Enterprise?

I have a mosaic dataset with high resolution terrain data that I want to upload as an elevation layer for use in Scenes and the elevation widget profile. I add to this MD when there is a new project area and it would be nice to automatically have that used in the Experience Builder template so I don't have to upload and manage many different elevation layers.

I've been testing with a small raster mosaic and uploaded it as an elevation service with only one raster, then after uploading added more rasters. After running synchronize mosaic dataset and refreshing the service in the image server it still doesn't reflect the updates.

Is it possible to update and elevation layer or do I just have to upload new ones?

DavidlMason · Answer

I have had errors when running Build Overviews, but I feel like that shouldn't matter. Portal would rely on the cache instead of the overviews, no?

I'll keep playing around with it.

DavidPike · Answer

I'm going to guess that the new rasters don't have caches generated at the viewing scales required, or Overviews are missing.  Personally I wouldn't have Overviews where a cache is present as it seems redundant - but I may be corrected on this.

I'd Generate Overviews on your MD as a first step - as the previous ones could be obscuring your new data.

DavidlMason · Answer

Good to know it should work. I didn't have any issues when I first uploaded it. I made sure to use a registered data store (our image server). I tried checking the services directory but couldn't find exactly where it would confirm that it's referenced and not copied, here's some info I thought may be relevant below. The original rasters and the GDB with the mosaic dataset are saved in a folder within our image server.

Storage Info:

* Storage Format: esriMapCacheStorageModeCompactV2
* Packet Size: 128

Service Data Type: esriImageServiceDataTypeElevation

After I added more rasters to see if it could be seen in Portal, I ran both Analyze Mosaic Dataset and Synchronize Mosaic Dataset several times with various different settings. After running Synchronize MD I occasionally got a warning that "2025-09-10T13:59:25.055: Warning: Generated partial overview image [5 of 5]: ", but it looks fine in ArcGIS Pro.

I've tried playing around with the cache settings. Now I'm using tiles from a cache drawn on demand. Maybe this is an overview issue, though. Though would you need to have overviews?

I want to use this service for the elevation profile widget in EB and for Scenes. I'm using ArcGIS 3.3 and ArcEnterprise 11.3 (we'll be upgrading to 3.5 and 11.5 later this year).