Delineating boundary around many small polygons to reduce number of polygons but retain relative coverage using ArcGIS Desktop?

Question

I am using ArcGIS Desktop 10.3 with an Advanced license.

I ran the slope tool on a DEM and converted the resulting raster into a shapefile with two polygons, one with slopes > 40% grade and the other with slopes <=40% grade. This creates many polygons across the area I am looking at. I am wondering if there is a way to create an outline/boundary that encompasses the small boundaries, but retains the general shape.

In the pictures above the black rectangles are the small polygons I am talking about. In the second image the blue boundary is what I am trying to create. Ultimately I'd like this blue boundary to be a polygon. The goal of this is to reduce the number of polygons and the size of the shapefile. (I have already used the dissolve tool).

You may want to have a look at http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/41064/performing-raster-noise-reduction-and-edge-smoothing/225193#225193 — fatih_dur, Jan 31 '17 at 06:00

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 01 '17 at 20:05

1

If you are using an Advanced licensed ArcMap then you could look into using the Aggregate Polygons tool. This will achieve your desired output.

edited Feb 01 '17 at 20:05

PolyGeo

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answered Jan 31 '17 at 00:12

Hornbydd

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Delineating boundary around many small polygons to reduce number of polygons but retain relative coverage using ArcGIS Desktop?

1 Answers1