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Raster Bands

A raster dataset contains one or more layers called bands. For example, a color image has three bands (red, green, and blue) while a digital elevation model (DEM) has one band (holding elevation values), and a multispectral image may have many bands.

Each raster band contains the actual cell values, as well as some key properties, such as:

  • Statistics: minimum, maximum, and mean cell values
  • Histogram of cell values
  • Default color map for raster display (optional)

Examples of a 1 band raster are

  • Elevation Data
  • Grayscale aerial imagery
  • Scanned maps/documents

Examples of 3 band raster are

  • Most color TIFFs, IMGS or MrSIDSs
  • Remotely Sensed/Spectral data

In the Raster Java API, a band in a raster band is represented by the SeRasterBand class. As well the SeRasterAttr object stores band metadata such as number of bands and width of bands, while the actual bands can be retrieved in the form of a SeRasterBand array from SeRaster using the SeRaster.getBands() method.

Prior to retrieving bands from SeRaster, it is necessary to obtain all raster information from the server. This is accomplished by a call to the SeRaster.getInfoById(lastInsertID) method. Consequently, bands can be retrieved by calling the SeRaster.getBands() method.

From the Raster C API, a band in a raster is accessed through the SE_RASBANDINFO structure. As well the SE_RASTERATTR structure stores band metadata such as number of bands and width of bands, while the actual bands can be retrieved in the form of a SE_RASBANDINFO array from SE_RASTERATTR using the SE_rasterattr_get_rasterband_info_list() method.

See also

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