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Find Argument Statistics

Find Argument Statistics The Find Argument Statistics tool extracts the dimension value or band index at which a given statistic is attained for each pixel in a multidimensional or multiband raster.

Note:

To run this tool, the portal must be configured for raster analysis.

This functionality is currently only supported in Map Viewer Classic (formerly known as Map Viewer). It will be available in a future release of the new Map Viewer. If you do not see this tool in Map Viewer Classic, contact your organization administrator. Your portal may not be configured for raster analysis, or you may not have the privileges required to run the tool.

Workflow diagram

Find Argument Statistics workflow

Example

  • Given 30 years of monthly sea surface temperature data, determine the month in which each pixel reached the highest sea surface temperature.
  • Given an eight-band remote sensing image, determine the band in which the minimum reflectance value was reached for each pixel.

Usage notes

Use this tool to extract the dimension value (for example, the date, height, or depth) at which a specific statistic is reached in the stack of rasters in a multidimensional raster dataset. Alternatively, find the band number at which the statistic is reached in a multiband raster.

For information on how to publish multidimensional imagery layers, see Publish multidimensional imagery layers.

If the input multidimensional imagery layer contains only one dimension, the output will be a single-band raster dataset where each pixel contains the dimension value for the argument statistic. If the input multidimensional imagery layer contains multiple dimensions, the output multidimensional raster will include those dimensions that were not included in the analysis.

If Use current map extent is checked, variables of the layer that are visible within the current map extent will be analyzed. If it is not checked, variables of the full layer will be analyzed, even if they are outside the current map extent.

The parameters for this tool are listed in the following table:

ParameterExplanation
Choose multidimensional or multi-band imagery layer to analyze

The input multidimensional or multiband raster to be analyzed.

Choose dimension from which the statistic will be extracted

The dimension from which the statistic will be extracted.

Choose variable(s) to analyze

The variable or variables to be analyzed. If the input raster is not multidimensional, the pixel values of the multiband raster are considered the variable. If the input raster is multidimensional and no variable is specified, all variables with the selected dimension will be analyzed.

For example, to find the years in which temperature values were highest, specify temperature as the variable to be analyzed. If you do not specify any variables and you have both temperature and precipitation variables, both variables will be analyzed, and the output multidimensional raster will include both variables.

Choose statistics type

Specifies the statistic to extract from the variable or variables along the given dimension.

  • Argument of the minimum—The dimension value at which the minimum variable value is reached will be extracted. This is the default.
  • Argument of the maximum—The dimension value at which the maximum variable value is reached will be extracted.
  • Argument of the median—The dimension value at which the median variable value is reached will be extracted.
  • Argument of duration—The longest dimension duration for which the variable values fall between the minimum and maximum values will be extracted.
Specify multiple occurrence value (optional)

The pixel value to use in the output that indicates that the argument statistic was reached more than once in the input raster dataset. If not specified, the pixel value will be the value of the dimension the first time the argument statistic is reached.

Specify minimum value

The minimum variable value to be used to extract the duration.

Specify maximum value

The maximum variable value to be used to extract the duration.

This parameter is required when Duration is selected as the statistics type.

Choose dimension definition

Specifies how the statistic will be extracted from the dimension.

  • All—The statistic will be extracted across all dimensions. This is the default.
  • Interval Keyword—The statistic will be extracted from the time dimension according to the interval keyword.

Choose keyword interval

The unit of time for which the statistic will be extracted.

  • Recurring daily—The statistic will be extracted across days.
  • Recurring weekly—The statistic will be extracted across weeks.
  • Recurring monthly—The statistic will be extracted across months.
  • Recurring quarterly—The statistic will be extracted across quarters.
  • Hourly—The statistic will be extracted for the hour in which the statistic was reached.
  • Daily—The statistic will be extracted for the day in which the statistic was reached.
  • Weekly—The statistic will be extracted for the week in which the statistic was reached.
  • Monthly—The statistic will be extracted for the month in which the statistic was reached.
  • Quarterly—The statistic will be extracted for the quarter in which the statistic was reached.
  • Yearly—The statistic will be extracted for the year in which the statistic was reached.

For example, you have five years of daily sea surface temperature data and you want to know the year in which the maximum temperature was observed. Set Argument of the maximum as the statistics type, set Interval Keyword as the dimension definition, and set the keyword interval to Yearly.

This parameter is required when the dimension definition is set to Interval Keyword and the dimension is time.

Ignore missing values in calculation

Specifies whether missing values are ignored in the analysis.

  • Checked—The analysis will include all valid pixels along a given dimension and ignore any NoData pixels. This is the default.
  • Unchecked—The analysis will result in NoData if there are any NoData values for the pixel along the given dimension.

Result layer name

The name of the layer that will be created in My Content and added to the map. The default name is based on the tool name and the input layer name. If the layer already exists, you will be prompted to provide another name.

You can specify the name of a folder in My Content where the result will be saved using the Save result in drop-down box.

Environments

Analysis environment settings are additional parameters that affect a tool's results. You can access the tool's analysis environment settings by clicking the gear icon Analysis Environments at the top of the tool pane.

This tool honors the following Analysis Environments:

  • Output coordinate system—Specifies the coordinate system of the output layer.
  • Extent—Specifies the area to be used for analysis.
  • Snap Raster—Adjusts the extent of the output so it matches the cell alignment of the specified snap raster layer.
  • Cell size—The cell size to use in the output layer.
  • Mask—Specifies a mask layer, where only the cells that fall within the mask area will be used for analysis.
  • Resampling method—The method to use to interpolate pixel values.
  • Recycle interval of processing workers—Defines how many image sections to process before restarting worker processes.
  • Parallel processing factor—Controls the raster processing CPU or GPU instances.
  • Number of retries on failures—Defines how many retries a worker process will attempt when there is random failure processing a job.

Similar tools and raster functions

Use Find Argument Statistics to extract the dimension value at which a statistic is reached. Other tools may be useful in solving similar problems.

Map Viewer Classic analysis tools and raster functions

The ArgStatistics raster function processes a list of input rasters to identify the band at which a given argument statistic is reached.

ArcGIS Pro analysis tools and raster functions

The Find Argument Statistics geoprocessing tool is available in the Image Analyst and the Spatial Analyst toolboxes.

ArgStatistics is also available as a raster function.

ArcGIS Enterprise developers resources

If you are working in ArcGIS REST API, use the Find Argument Statistics task.

If you are working in ArcGIS API for Python, use Find Argument StatisticsArcGIS for Python API website from the arcgis.raster.analytics module.