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Band 6 collects data from the thermal infrared region. Bands 1–7, including 6, represent data from the visible, near infrared, and midinfrared regions. Landsat imagery, for example, is data collected from seven different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
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By displaying bands together as RGB composites, often more information is gleaned from the dataset than if you were to work with just one band.Ī satellite image, for example, commonly has multiple bands representing different wavelengths from the ultraviolet through the visible and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A combination of any three of the available bands in a multiband raster dataset can be used to create RGB composites. When you create a map layer from a raster image, you can choose to display a single band of data or form a color composite from multiple bands. The term band originated from the reference to the color band on the electromagnetic spectrum. Bands can represent any portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, including ranges not visible to the eye, such as the infrared or ultraviolet sections. With multiple bands, each band usually represents a segment of the electromagnetic spectrum collected by a sensor.
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When there are multiple bands, every cell location has more than one value associated with it. The three main ways to display single-band raster datasets are shown below. For more information, see Key concepts of raster dataset color maps. A set of values is coded to match a defined set of red, green, and blue (RGB) values. Color map-One way to represent colors on an image is with a color map.These are often used for black-and-white aerial photographs. Grayscale-In a grayscale image, each cell has a value from 0 to another number, such as 255 or 65535.This type of display is often used for displaying scanned maps with simple line work, such as parcel maps. Using two colors-In a binary image, each cell has a value of 0 or 1 and is often displayed using black and white.There are three main ways to display (render) single-band raster datasets: Most satellite imagery has multiple bands, typically containing values within a range or band of the electromagnetic spectrum. You can also have a single-band orthophoto, which is sometimes called a panchromatic or grayscale image. Each cell in a DEM contains only one value representing surface elevation. An example of a single-band raster dataset is a digital elevation model (DEM). What you want to pay attention to with Raster Calculator is the Environments settings. Basically, a band is represented by a single matrix of cell values, and a raster with multiple bands contains multiple spatially coincident matrices of cell values representing the same spatial area. Some rasters have a single band, or layer (a measure of a single characteristic), of data, while others have multiple bands.
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