Adding Rasters to a Map Project (pyramids & statistics)
Included in this tutorial
Example popup dialogues prompting you to Calculate Statistics or Build Pyramids
A brief explanation of these prompts
Software version in examples: ArcGIS Pro 2.9.1 and ArcMap
Credits: L. Meisterlin (2022)
When adding a raster to a map project, you are sometimes prompted to build (or create) pyramids and/or calculate statistics for the raster.
Example pop-up prompts are featured below.
prompt to calculate statistics for a raster in ArcGIS Pro
prompt to build pyramids and calculate statistics in ArcGIS Pro
prompt to build pyramids in ArcMap
Pyramids are lower-resolution files associated with a raster that allow for faster display as you zoom in and out or pan around your map.
The statistics you are asked to calculate refer to the descriptive statistics (minimum, maximum, mean, etc) that are necessary for some analyses and quantitative symbologies.
Saying “yes” to either might take a minute or two, but can save you time and trouble in the long run, depending on how you intend to use the raster.
FOR MORE: For additional reference on these prompts, see the Esri documentation here.