Use Build Band Stack to build a new file consisting of bands from different rasters with the same dimensions. The following rules apply to the input rasters:

  • They must have the same number of rows and columns.
  • They do not need to be georeferenced.
  • They can have different interleave types, but the resulting band-stacked raster will be BSQ.
  • They can be of different data types (such as floating-point and integer), but the resulting band-stacked raster will be cast to the highest data type out of all the rasters.

Band-stacked rasters are different from layer-stacked rasters, which consist of georeferenced images of various pixel sizes, extents, and projections. See Build Layer Stacks.

An example of creating a band-stacked raster would be combining bands from different Landsat TM images from different years. The input bands should have the same number of rows and columns; they are also in the same coordinate system and have the same pixel size (30 m).

You can also write a script to build band-stacked rasters using the BuildBandStack task.

Follow these steps:

  1. From the Toolbox, select Raster Management > Build Band Stack. The Build Build Stack dialog appears.
  2. Click the Browse button next to Input Rasters and select the image bands (from different files) that will comprise the band-stacked raster. If the files are already open in ENVI, you can also drag and drop the band names from the Data Manager or Layer Manager into the Input Rasters field.
  3. Drag and drop the items in the Input Rasters field to the desired order in the band stack.

  4. To write the output to disk, select the File radio button and specify a filename and location. To produce output in memory only, select the Virtual radio button.

  5. Enable the Display result check box to display the output in the view when processing is complete. Otherwise, if the check box is disabled, the result can be loaded from the Data Manager.

  6. To reuse these task settings in future ENVI sessions, save them to a file. Click the down arrow and select Save Parameter Values, then specify the location and filename to save to. Note that some parameter types, such as rasters, vectors, and ROIs, will not be saved with the file. To apply the saved task settings, click the down arrow and select Restore Parameter Values, then select the file where you previously stored your settings.

  7. To run the process in the background, click the down arrow and select Run Task in the Background. If an ENVI Server has been set up on the network, the Run Task on remote ENVI Server name is also available. The ENVI Server Job Console will show the progress of the job and will provide a link to display the result when processing is complete. See ENVI Servers for more information.

  8. Click OK.

See Also

ENVIGridDefinition, Map Information in ENVI, Build Layer Stacks