Calculate Raster Area
1.
Using the Clip (Data Management) Tool
To calculate the area of a raster‐based image from a larger image, first clip the raster to
the desired area.
Access the Search Tool from the ArcGIS tool bar and query “clip raster”
Use the Clip (Data Management)
Tool to clip the raster based on a
feature outline.
2. The Clip (Data Management) Tool
Input Raster: <the raster you want to input>
Output Extent: <an existing raster or vector layer used to clip extent>
Check the Use Input Features Extent to use a selected
feature boundary.
Output Raster Dataset: Location of output file.
Examine the Output of your Layer in the TOC
Right‐click on your new output layer and examine the attributes. The attributes will
have three columns: 1) OBJECTID, 2) VALUE, and 3) COUNT. VALUE and COUNT are the
two meaningful values.
3.
Export Data
With the open attribute table, right‐click scroll to the bottom of the menu and
click Export, when the window opens left‐click the , Save as Type: Text File, type the
name of the file and the saved location.
Import Data to MS Excel
4. Open MS Excel. Go to the Data Tab; since you exported the file from ArcGIS in a text
format, load the file using the From Text option. Locate your file and load it into MS
Excel.
Click the options for Delimited and My data has header; proceed to walk through the
menu loading the file and delimit text using Comma.
2
Calculate Percentages with MS Excel
5 .
COUNT represents the number of pixels per class (VALUE). Sum the COUNT column to
come up with the total area of cells. Curious about units? Check the layer properties in
ArcGIS. In this case the layer is in meters.
To calculate the percent of each class: use the formula in the toolbar. Hi‐lite the cell, and
divide by the sum of the area. Make sure to put dollar signs on each side of the
denominator letter and multiply by 100 to give you a percent of land cover class.
3