Common Questions

Image services in ArcGIS for Server are similar to map services but are optimized for imagery (making them faster). They also provide additional capabilities for image exploitation. This extra functionality applies to both visualization and analysis of imagery.

Image services are provided out of the box with the Standard and Advanced editions of ArcGIS for Server.

Image Service Capabilities

• Create image services from any single image.
• Change rendering using ArcGIS for Desktop clients.
• Optimize data transmission for low-bandwidth connections.
• Use an image service as a data source for geoprocessing.
• Create service-level metadata.
• Serve multispectral and elevation data.
• Image services are OGC compliant (WMS, WCS).

Image services in ArcGIS for Server are similar to map services but are optimized for imagery (making them faster). They also provide additional capabilities for image exploitation. This extra functionality applies to both visualization and analysis of imagery.

Image services are provided out of the box with the Standard and Advanced editions of ArcGIS for Server.

• Advanced Visualization: Enables ArcGIS for Desktop users to dynamically change the rendering of the image.
• Optimized Data Transmission: Provides the ability to adjust the data transmission for low-bandwidth networks.
• Advanced Image Analysis: Can be used as inputs to geoprocessing. Publishing an image service makes a raster dataset accessible as a source for analysis over the Web.

For larger volumes of imagery, the addition of the ArcGIS for Server Image extension provides the entire imagery management solution.

• Simplified Management: With the Image extension, users can do the following:
  • Directly publish images in their raw format (without preprocessing) as image services.
  • Directly create image services out of large numbers of individual images that may be in different projections, pixel sizes, and locations.
  • Create Internet Services Definition (ISCDef) files.
  • These define what images are to be part of the image service, how they will be mosaicked, and other parameters like orthorectification, pan sharpening, and enhancements.
  • Reduce the elapsed time between imagery acquisition and exploitation.
• Improved Performance: Image services based on ISCDef files are substantially faster and more scalable than equivalent map services.
• Optimized Imagery: From a single set of source imagery, multiple image services can be created, each using different sets of images with different processing being applied.
• Dynamic Mosaicking and Processing: The Image extension adds on top of image services a powerful API that allows clients to dynamically change the ordering of overlapping imagery. For example, this enables users to exploit temporal changes that would otherwise be lost in a static mosaic.
• Advanced Metadata: In addition to service-level metadata, the Image extension augments image services with image-level metadata.