In ArcGIS, why is my image displayed in all black?

When you work with a raster file (such as GeoTIF, MrSID or IMG) in ArcGIS Desktop, the image may display in all black (i.e., no image). You can correct this by calculating statistics for the raster. Statistics are required for your raster dataset to perform certain tasks, such as applying a contrast stretch or classifying your data. Running the Calculate Statistics tool will add auxiliary information about the raster by creating an .aux file.

To calculate statistics for a raster file in ArcGIS:

1. Open ArcGIS ArcCatalog. Navigate to the folder where the raster file is stored.
   
   
2. Activate the ArcToolbox window.
   
   
3. Expand the ArcToolbox tree and click Data Management Tools, then Raster, and then Raster Properties.
   
   
4. Double-click Calculate Statistics.
   
   
5. Drag and drop the raster file into the "input raster dataset" field. Alternatively, you can locate the file using Browse.
   
   
6. Leave the default number of columns and rows to skip set to  1 . A setting of 1 will ensure that no cells in the raster are skipped when statistics are calculated.
   
   
7. Click OK. When process is completed, close the window.
   
   
8. To confirm, right-click the raster and select Properties. Scroll down the menu to "Statistics". Expand each band of the raster to view statistics such as mean and standard deviations. If you see the message "Statistics have not been calculated", no statistics exist.

You will not be able to see the individual files that make up a georeferenced raster image in ArcCatalog. However, if you navigate to the raster location in Windows Explorer, you will notice that an .aux file has been created in the same folder as the raster file.

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