An overview of image service definition processes

One of the biggest advantages of ArcGIS Image Server is the ability to apply processing to a raster dataset before it is served to a client. By allowing you to define processes that are applied on the fly during the processing of the data before being served to the client, you can allow the client to see many different views of the raster data. For example, when using a multiband data source, such as Landsat, you can make several different band combinations available, such as 3,2,1 or 7,4,3. Additionally, you can provide a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) view or even a pan-sharpened view.

These processes are defined as part of the image server process chain and are applied to a service, to groups of rasters, or to individual rasters.

The available processes

Service processes	Description
Classify Pixel	Applies a simple classification of the pixels to the raster data used in the output image service.
Color Map	Transforms the pixel values to display the raster data as either a grayscale or red, green, and blue (RGB) image, based on a color map.
Convert Pixel Type	Converts the pixel type of an image from one bit depth to another.
Convolution Filter	Performs filtering on the pixel values in an image, which can be used for sharpening an image, blurring an image, detecting edges within an image, or making other kernel-based enhancements.
Extract Bands	Extracts one or more bands from a multiband raster dataset.
Grayscale	Converts a multiband image to a single-band image and displays it using a gray color scale.
Histogram	Extracts a histogram and histogram statistics based on the image.
Image Algebra	Performs algebra on the spatially overlapping pixels from two raster bands or two raster datasets.
NDVI	Produces the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, allowing you to generate an image displaying relative biomass.
Ortho	Produces an orthorectified image based on a sensor definition and a terrain model.
Pan-sharpen	Fuses a high-resolution, panchromatic raster dataset with a lower-resolution multiband raster dataset.
Sampler2D	Performs additional sampling of the image, if required. The process can be applied to a raster or raster dataset but not to a service.
Spectral Matrix	Applies a matrix to a multiband image to affect the spectral values of the output.
Stack Bands	Combines raster datasets of the same format and dimensions.
Stretching	Enhances an image by changing its contrast, brightness, and gamma.
Trend	Changes the radiometry of an image based on a correction surface, which can be used as a simple method to remove trends in images.
Visualize Elevation	Renders (displays) elevation data using various methods of visualization.
Warp-Affine	Performs an affine transformation.
Warp-Grid	Performs a two-dimensional warp based on a grid of points.
Warp-SRS	Allows you to project a raster source's coordinate to the target's coordinate system.

Processes list