Using ArcGIS Desktop

The derived surfaces can be combined with the original elevation surface, or with each other.

Displaying contours on top of the elevation surface adds detail to the

map.

The hillshade surface is often displayed under the symbolized

elevation surface to create a shaded relief map. Set the transparency
of the elevation surface using the Display tab on the Layer Properties
dialog box.

Viewing the surfaces in perspective, using ArcScene, can help you visualize the surface characteristics.

Displaying the Slope surface in perspective lets you easily see the
areas of steepest and flattest slope (see Creating relief maps and
perspective views in Chapter 4).

This perspective view of the Aspect surface shows north-facing

slopes (blues) and south-facing slopes (yellows).

Contour, Slope, Aspect and Hillshade can also be accessed from the Spatial Analyst toolbar in ArcMap and the
3DAnalyst toolbar in ArcMap or ArcScene.

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5 Geographic Analysis
When accessing the tools via the toolbars, the default for the output is a temporary raster, which is automatically
added to the map or scene, but not saved. That allows you to preview the analysis parameters and preview the output.
To make a temporary raster permanent, right-click the layer name in the table of contents, point to Data, and click Make
Permanent. Alternatively, you can create a permanent raster initially by typing a name for the output raster in the dialog
boxthe raster will be saved in the working directory (set using Options on the Spatial Analyst drop-down menu). Or,
type a full pathname to override the working directory setting.

Default

The default output for Slope and other surface

analysis tools accessed from the toolbar is a
temporary raster. Enter a raster name if you
want to create a permanent output raster.

If you accept the default of a temporary output raster, and later want to save it,
right-click the layer name, point to Data, and click Make Permanent. Alternatively,
save the map to make all the temporary rasters permanent (they will be given a
default name and stored in the working directory).

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