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  • Tool reference
  • Spatial Analyst toolbox
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  • An overview of the Spatial Analyst toolbox
  • A complete listing of the Spatial Analyst tools
  • Analysis environments and Spatial Analyst
  • Spatial Analyst toolbox licensing
  • Conditional toolset

    • An overview of the Conditional tools
    • Con
    • Pick
    • Set Null
    • Conditional toolset concepts

    Density toolset

    • An overview of the Density tools
    • Kernel Density
    • Line Density
    • Point Density
    • Density toolset concepts

    Distance toolset

    • An overview of the Distance tools
    • Corridor
    • Cost Allocation
    • Cost Back Link
    • Cost Distance
    • Cost Path
    • Euclidean Allocation
    • Euclidean Direction
    • Euclidean Distance
    • Path Distance
    • Path Distance Allocation
    • Path Distance Back Link
    • Distance toolset concepts

    Extraction toolset

    • An overview of the Extraction tools
    • Extract by Attributes
    • Extract by Circle
    • Extract by Mask
    • Extract by Points
    • Extract by Polygon
    • Extract by Rectangle
    • Extract Multi Values to Points
    • Extract Values to Points
    • Sample
    • Extraction toolset concepts

    Generalization toolset

    • An overview of the Generalization tools
    • Aggregate
    • Boundary Clean
    • Expand
    • Majority Filter
    • Nibble
    • Region Group
    • Shrink
    • Thin
    • Generalization toolset concepts

    Groundwater toolset

    • An overview of the Groundwater tools
    • Darcy Flow
    • Darcy Velocity
    • Particle Track
    • Porous Puff
    • Groundwater toolset concepts

    Hydrology toolset

    • An overview of the Hydrology tools
    • Basin
    • Fill
    • Flow Accumulation
    • Flow Direction
    • Flow Length
    • Sink
    • Snap Pour Point
    • Stream Link
    • Stream Order
    • Stream to Feature
    • Watershed
    • Hydrology toolset concepts

    Interpolation toolset

    • An overview of the Interpolation tools
    • IDW
    • Kriging
    • Natural Neighbor
    • Spline
    • Spline with Barriers
    • Topo to Raster
    • Topo to Raster by File
    • Trend
    • Interpolation toolset concepts

    Local toolset

    • An overview of the Local tools
    • Cell Statistics
    • Combine
    • Equal To Frequency
    • Greater Than Frequency
    • Highest Position
    • Less Than Frequency
    • Lowest Position
    • Popularity
    • Rank
    • Local toolset concepts

    Map Algebra toolset

    • An overview of the Map Algebra toolset
    • Raster Calculator
    • Map Algebra toolset concepts

    Math toolset

    • An overview of the Math toolset
    • Bitwise
    • Logical
    • Trigonometric
    • Abs
    • Divide
    • Exp
    • Exp10
    • Exp2
    • Float
    • Int
    • Ln
    • Log10
    • Log2
    • Minus
    • Mod
    • Negate
    • Plus
    • Power
    • Round Down
    • Round Up
    • Square
    • Square Root
    • Times
    • General math toolset concepts

    Multivariate toolset

    • An overview of the Multivariate tools
    • Band Collection Statistics
    • Class Probability
    • Create Signatures
    • Dendrogram
    • Edit Signatures
    • Iso Cluster
    • Iso Cluster Unsupervised Classification
    • Maximum Likelihood Classification
    • Principal Components
    • Multivariate toolset concepts

    Neighborhood toolset

    • An overview of the Neighborhood tools
    • Block Statistics
    • Filter
    • Focal Flow
    • Focal Statistics
    • Line Statistics
    • Point Statistics
    • Neighborhood toolset concepts

    Overlay toolset

    • An overview of the Overlay tools
    • Fuzzy Membership
    • Fuzzy Overlay
    • Weighted Overlay
    • Weighted Sum
    • Overlay toolset concepts

    Raster Creation toolset

    • An overview of the Raster Creation tools
    • Create Constant Raster
    • Create Normal Raster
    • Create Random Raster

    Reclass toolset

    • An overview of the Reclass tools
    • Lookup
    • Reclass by ASCII File
    • Reclass by Table
    • Reclassify
    • Rescale by Function
    • Slice
    • Reclass toolset concepts

    Segmentation and Classification toolset

    • An overview of the Segmentation and Classification toolset
    • Classify Raster
    • Compute Segment Attributes
    • Segment Mean Shift
    • Train ISO Cluster Classifier
    • Train Maximum Likelihood Classifier
    • Train Support Vector Machine Classifier
    • Segmentation and Classification concepts

    Solar Radiation toolset

    • An overview of the Solar Radiation tools
    • Area Solar Radiation
    • Points Solar Radiation
    • Solar Radiation Graphics
    • Solar Radiation toolset concepts

    Surface toolset

    • An overview of the Surface tools
    • Aspect
    • Contour
    • Contour List
    • Contour with Barriers
    • Curvature
    • Cut Fill
    • Hillshade
    • Observer Points
    • Slope
    • Viewshed
    • Viewshed 2
    • Visibility
    • Surface toolset concepts

    Zonal toolset

    • An overview of the Zonal tools
    • Tabulate Area
    • Zonal Fill
    • Zonal Geometry
    • Zonal Geometry as Table
    • Zonal Histogram
    • Zonal Statistics
    • Zonal Statistics as Table
    • Zonal toolset concepts

    An overview of the Interpolation toolset

    This ArcGIS 10.3 documentation has been archived and is no longer updated. Content and links may be outdated. See the latest documentation.

    Available with Spatial Analyst license.

    Surface interpolation tools create a continuous (or prediction) surface from sampled point values.

    Visiting every location in a study area to measure the height, concentration, or magnitude of a phenomenon is usually difficult or expensive. Instead, you can measure the phenomenon at strategically dispersed sample locations, and predicted values can be assigned to all other locations. Input points can be either randomly or regularly spaced or based on a sampling scheme.

    The continuous surface representation of a raster dataset represents some measure, such as the height, concentration, or magnitude (for example, elevation, acidity, or noise level). Surface interpolation tools make predictions from sample measurements for all locations in an output raster dataset, whether or not a measurement has been taken at the location.

    There are a variety of ways to derive a prediction for each location; each method is referred to as a model. With each model, there are different assumptions made of the data, and certain models are more applicable for specific data—for example, one model may account for local variation better than another. Each model produces predictions using different calculations.

    The interpolation tools are generally divided into deterministic and geostatistical methods.

    • The deterministic interpolation methods assign values to locations based on the surrounding measured values and on specified mathematical formulas that determine the smoothness of the resulting surface.

      The deterministic methods include IDW (inverse distance weighting), Natural Neighbor, Trend, and Spline.

    • The geostatistical methods are based on statistical models that include autocorrelation (the statistical relationship among the measured points). Because of this, geostatistical techniques not only have the capability of producing a prediction surface but also provide some measure of the certainty or accuracy of the predictions.

      Kriging is a geostatistical method of interpolation.

    The remaining interpolation tools, Topo to Raster and Topo to Raster by File, use an interpolation method specifically designed for creating continuous surfaces from contour lines, and the methods also contain properties favorable for creating surfaces for hydrologic analysis.

    Explore the following links to learn more about interpolation analysis:

    • Learn more about understanding interpolation analysis
    • Learn more about the different interpolation methods

    The following table lists the available Interpolation tools and provides a brief description of each.

    ToolDescription

    IDW

    Interpolates a raster surface from points using an inverse distance weighted (IDW) technique.

    Kriging

    Interpolates a raster surface from points using kriging.

    Natural Neighbor

    Interpolates a raster surface from points using a natural neighbor technique.

    Spline

    Interpolates a raster surface from points using a two-dimensional minimum curvature spline technique.

    The resulting smooth surface passes exactly through the input points.

    Spline with Barriers

    Interpolates a raster surface, using barriers, from points using a minimum curvature spline technique. The barriers are entered as either polygon or polyline features.

    Topo to Raster

    Interpolates a hydrologically correct raster surface from point, line, and polygon data.

    Topo to Raster by File

    Interpolates a hydrologically correct raster surface from point, line, and polygon data using parameters specified in a file.

    Trend

    Interpolates a raster surface from points using a trend technique.

    Tools in the Interpolation toolset

    Related Topics

    • An overview of the Spatial Analyst toolbox

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