ArcMap

Region Group

Available with Spatial Analyst license.

Summary

For each cell in the output, the identity of the connected region to which that cell belongs is recorded. A unique number is assigned to each region.

Learn more about creating individual zones with Region Group

Illustration

Region Group illustration
OutRas = RegionGroup(InRas1)

Usage

  • The first region scanned receives the value one, the second two, and so forth, until all regions are assigned a value. The scan moves from left to right, top to bottom. The values assigned to the output zones are based on when they are encountered in the scanning process.

  • By default, the Add link field to output (ADD_LINK in Python) option is enabled. This will create an item called LINK in the attribute table of the output raster, which retains the original value for each cell from the input raster.

  • The LINK field allows you to trace the parentage of each of the newly created regions for queries or analysis.

    For example, the attribute table for the output raster shown in the illustration above is the following:

    Example of the LINK item in an attribute table

  • It will significantly speed up the processing if the LINK field is not created. If the original value of each region is no longer needed, uncheck this option.

  • With the environment mask set, the spatial configuration and the number of regions may be altered in the output raster.

  • Region Group is especially useful when the analysis is on regions and not on zones. Since the input zone value is maintained, the original zonal class can also be used in the analysis.

  • Cell locations that contain the excluded value receive zero on the output so that these zones are not confused with existing NoData cell locations. Since the Region Group begins numbering with the value 1, the cells that are excluded from the regroup are considered background. These background cells can be reclassed or manipulated as any other value. The locations containing excluded values can easily be converted to NoData using the Con tool.

  • See Analysis environments and Spatial Analyst for additional details on the geoprocessing environments that apply to this tool.

Syntax

RegionGroup(in_raster, {number_neighbors}, {zone_connectivity}, {add_link}, {excluded_value})
ParameterExplanationData Type
in_raster

The input raster whose unique connected regions will be identified.

It must be of integer type.

Raster Layer
number_neighbors
(Optional)

The number of neighboring cells to use in evaluating connectivity between cells.

  • FOUR —Defines connectivity between cells of the same value only if the cells are directly to the left, right, above, or below each of the four nearest neighbors. If two cells with the same value are diagonal from one another, they are not considered connected. This is the default.
  • EIGHT —Defines connectivity between cells of the same value if they are within the immediate eight-cell neighborhood (eight nearest neighbors) of each other. This includes to the right, left, above, or diagonal to each other.
String
zone_connectivity
(Optional)

Defines which cell values should be considered when testing for connectivity.

  • WITHIN —Tests connectivity between input values that are the same within the same zone.The only cells that can be grouped are cells from the same zone (value) that meet the spatial requirements of connectivity specified by the number_neighbors parameter (four-way or eight-way). This is the default.
  • CROSS —Tests connectivity by the spatial requirements specified by the number_neighbors parameter between cells with any values, except for the value identified to be excluded by the excluded_value parameter.When CROSS is used, a value for the {excluded_value} parameter must be input.
String
add_link
(Optional)

Specifies whether a link field is added to the table of the output.

  • ADD_LINK —A LINK item will be added to the table of the output raster. This item stores the original values for each newly created zone, from disconnected regions, from the input raster before they are regrouped. This is the default.
  • NO_LINK —The attribute table for the output raster will only contain the Value and Count items.
Boolean
excluded_value
(Optional)

Identifies a value such that if a cell location contains the value, no spatial connectivity will be evaluated regardless how the number of neighbors is specified (FOUR or EIGHT).

Cells with the excluded value will be treated as NoData and are eliminated from calculations. Cell locations that contain the excluded value will receive 0 on the output raster.

The excluded value is similar to the concept of a background value, or setting a mask in the environment for a single run of the tool. A value must be specified for this parameter if the CROSS keyword is specified.

Long

Return Value

NameExplanationData Type
out_raster

The output region group raster.

The output is always of integer type.

Raster

Code sample

RegionGroup example 1 (Python window)

This example assigns a unique number to each region of the input raster using eight-way connectivity.

import arcpy
from arcpy import env
from arcpy.sa import *
env.workspace = "C:/sapyexamples/data"
outRgnGrp = RegionGroup("land", "EIGHT", "", "", 5)
outRgnGrp.save("c:/sapyexamples/output/reggrp_ex5")
RegionGroup example 2 (stand-alone script)

This example assigns a unique number to each region of the input raster using eight-way connectivity with an excluded value.

# Name: RegionGroup_Ex_02.py
# Description: Records, for each cell in the output, the
#              identity of the connected region to which 
#              it belongs within the Analysis window. A 
#              unique number is assigned to each region.
# Requirements: Spatial Analyst Extension

# Import system modules
import arcpy
from arcpy import env
from arcpy.sa import *

# Set environment settings
env.workspace = "C:/sapyexamples/data"

# Set local variables
inRaster = "land"
valToIgnore = 5

# Check out the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension license
arcpy.CheckOutExtension("Spatial")

# Execute RegionGroup
outRegionGrp = RegionGroup(inRaster, "EIGHT", "CROSS", 
                           "NO_LINK", valToIgnore)

# Save the output 
outRegionGrp.save("C:/sapyexamples/output/reggrpout")

Environments

Licensing information

  • Basic: Requires Spatial Analyst
  • Standard: Requires Spatial Analyst
  • Advanced: Requires Spatial Analyst

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