Converting DEM to use with Locate Outliers tool in ArcGIS?

Question

I have a DEM and I want to analyse it using the Locate Outliers tool in ArcMap; however the tool only supports Terrain or LAS input files.

How to convert the raster DEM to a format that Locate Outliers can read?

Where did you get the DEM? If you have a USGS DEM it has already been corrected and your analysis is unlikely to produce any meaningful information. If you created the DEM from points collected yourself then go ahead and create a TIN from those points for input into the Locate Outliers tool. — GBG, Oct 26 '16 at 19:01
I created the points my self and have a DEM raster and can work out how to convert that into a Terrain or LAS file? — Stephen, Oct 26 '16 at 19:02
The Locate Outliers tool will also accept a TIN and creating a TIN is easier for a NOOB than creating a Terrain. Have a look at the Create TIN tool since you have 3D Analyst extension. Here is a link to the ESRI help page for Create TIN http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/tools/3d-analyst-toolbox/create-tin.htm — GBG, Oct 26 '16 at 19:59

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:33

The Locate Outliers tool can take 3 types of inputs: TIN, Terrain dataset and LAS dataset. As stated by @GBG, TINs are simpler to output from a DEM.

To accomplish such task, first convert your raster data to vector. Some options are:

Then, using any of previous outputs to create a TIN.

Another option would be to directly smooth the DEM, instead of converting it to other type of data.

1 Answers1