Best raster format for grid analysis?

Question

I'm upgrading a python script so that it'll function in ArcGIS 10.1 and as such I have the opportunity to change the raster format. Currently, the rasters are saved in Esri's grid format which has a few drawbacks. The most notable one is that grids cannot be stored in a directory structure with more than 120 characters (including the name of the raster). I believe this is no longer the case starting with 10.0; is this true?

Also, what is the most efficient raster format when using Spatial Analyst? Is it Esri's Grid, Erdas' IMG, or storing them in a file geodatabase? Efficiency, I'm defining here as the fastest processing time but I'm also concern to a lesser degree with storage size.

The output from these steps will be single-band and either integer or float.

David Sinton
dsinton@blm.gov

DavidSinton · Answer

I'm leaning towards Esri's grid format, file geodatabase, or Erdas' IMG format. Any thoughts on which format processes with the most efficiency?

MrSID, Tiff, BMP, and the like, I believe, would require too much overhead processing.

David

EricRice · Answer

Data formats supported by the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension.  See "Output raster data formats".

Best,
Eric

RobertBorchert · Answer

keep in mind different formats have their own different drawbacks as well.

For best resolution you would consider one that does not compress the image and take samples and generalize an image based on those next to it.  But the images are a lot smaller.

SIDS efficiently show very large areas but can be cumbersome to work with.

tiff and bmp have better resolution but tend to me much larger.

You should try several formats and see which one will work best for your needs. I'm upgrading a python script so that it'll function in ArcGIS 10.1 and as such I have the opportunity to change the raster format. Currently, the rasters are saved in Esri's grid format which has a few drawbacks. The most notable one is that grids cannot be stored in a directory structure with more than 120 characters (including the name of the raster). I believe this is no longer the case starting with 10.0; is this true?

Also, what is the most efficient raster format when using Spatial Analyst? Is it Esri's Grid, Erdas' IMG, or storing them in a file geodatabase? Efficiency, I'm defining here as the fastest processing time but I'm also concern to a lesser degree with storage size.

The output from these steps will be single-band and either integer or float.

David Sinton
dsinton@blm.gov