Esri Grid

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Introduction

Esri Grid is a type of raster data format developed by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in the United States. It is a format that is mainly used as a standard in the ArcGIS product group and is used to divide geospatial information into a grid and manage it. Numerical information (elevation value, classification code, etc.) is stored in each cell, and it is used in a wide range of GIS (geographic information system) applications such as topographic analysis, land use classification, and climate data analysis.

File Structure

There are two main types of Esri Grid formats.

Integer Grid

Each cell stores an integer value. It is used for land use classification, categorical data, etc.

Floating Point Grid

Each cell stores a floating point number. It is used for continuous value data such as elevation, temperature, and precipitation.

Esri Grid is also managed on a “file-based” basis, and generates multiple related files (such as *.adf files) for each grid. There are restrictions on file names and paths, and it is important to note that only ASCII code is supported, file names can be up to 13 characters long, and there is also a limit on the length of the path.

Pros

High compatibility with ArcGIS: Loading, analysis, and output can be performed very smoothly in Esri software (ArcMap, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Server, etc.).
Support for large-scale datasets: Large geospatial data can be divided into tiles and managed efficiently, making it suitable for wide-area environmental analysis and urban model construction.
Linkability with spatial analysis tools: Can be directly applied to many GIS spatial analysis tools, such as elevation data analysis, cost distance analysis, and watershed analysis.
Simple data structure: Consistent data management is possible on a cell-by-cell basis, facilitating geographic processing and raster calculations.

Cons

**Strict file restrictions: **There are many restrictions on file names and folder structures, and compatibility with modern file systems may be low.
Low versatility: Compared to other common raster data formats such as GeoTIFF and NetCDF, compatibility with software from other companies is limited.
Data volume can be large: Since there is no compression function, managing large amounts of data at fine resolution may increase storage consumption.
Support has been declining in recent years: Esri itself has tended to recommend a transition to more general-purpose formats such as GeoTIFF in recent years, so caution is required for future use.

Application Scenario

Esri Grid is a powerful tool for projects that use ArcGIS products. For example, it is widely used in a wide variety of geospatial information projects, such as terrain analysis using elevation data, agricultural support systems based on meteorological and soil data, environmental risk assessment in urban infrastructure planning, water resources management using watershed simulation, and disaster prevention mapping to evaluate disaster risk. The performance of Esri Grid is particularly beneficial when large-scale, complex terrain data must be processed quickly.