Once you’ve rendered a Visual, the result panel appears with a set of collapsible sections — Metadata, AOI Data, Analytical Tools and (in Remote Miner) the Insights Sandbox. This page covers Analytical Tools: the panel that lets you enhance and re-interpret the layer on the Globe without leaving the platform.
What these sections describe: the first active chip #
Metadata, AOI Data and Analytical Tools always describe the first active chip — the insight currently rendered on top of the Globe (the first layer that is both active and visible). The chip’s name is shown at the top of the panel so you always know which layer you’re acting on. Toggle a different layer to the top, or hide the current one, and all three sections switch to describe that layer instead. (Settings is the exception — it sets platform-wide rendering defaults, not per-layer values.)
Active layer analytics #
Open the Analytical Tools section on the active layer and you get Active layer analytics — a two-tab panel. Adjust the controls, then Apply to re-plot the full response with your changes. If no layer is active the panel asks you to select one, and it isn’t offered for a few layer types — unsaved sandbox insights, sandbox insights, and some composite/derived layers — which the panel tells you explicitly.
Insight Analysis tab #
Tools that change how the insight’s values are interpreted and shown:
You can also set an optional percentile clip (low/high) to keep extreme pixels from washing out the stretch. It can’t be combined with edge detection, unsupervised classification or distance analysis at the same time.
- Stretching — how values map to contrast. Stretching is a display operation: it re-plots the same data across a different range, it does not change the underlying pixel values. Options are Absolute and the statistical stretches 1σ / 2σ / 3σ and 90% / 98% / 100%. Use Absolute when you know a meaningful value range for the insight and want the color scale pinned to it; if you don’t, a σ or percentile stretch spreads whatever range the scene actually contains across the full contrast so you can read the pattern relatively.
- Color Palette — the palette applied to the layer (only shown for insights that carry a palette).
- Decorrelation Stretch (3-band RGB composites only) — toggled with Enhance RGB contrast. It exaggerates the subtle color differences between three bands so alteration and lithology stand out — and, like stretching, the insight data itself stays unchanged. Pick a mode:
– Equalize — spreads the decorrelated channels evenly for maximum color separation.
– Gain — multiplies the decorrelated channels by a gain value (keep it above 0; ~2.0 is a sensible start) for a stronger but more controllable effect. - Edge Detection — outline boundaries in the layer. Four algorithms, each with a different character:
– Zero Crossing — marks where the signal’s curvature flips sign, giving continuous closed outlines; good for tracing whole features.
– Canny — the classic multi-stage detector; produces clean, thin, well-connected edges and is the best all-round choice.
– Laplacian — a second-derivative operator that is very sensitive to fine detail (and to noise) — use it to pull out faint texture.
– Sobel — a first-derivative gradient operator that emphasizes edge strength and direction and copes well with noisier scenes. - Unsupervised Classification — group pixels into classes on the fly, with no training data:
– KMeans — you set the exact Number of Classes (3–6).
– XMeans — you set a Maximum Classes ceiling (3–6) and it finds the natural number of clusters up to that limit. - Machine Learning — extra model-driven options surfaced on the insights that support them.
- Threshold (single-band insights) — set a Min / Max range to isolate a feature, then Save Mask Threshold to turn that range into a reusable mask. See Masks.
Image Analysis tab #
Tools that operate on the image behind the insight:
- Masks — apply predefined or your own masks to the layer. Masks already on the layer are locked: once a mask has been applied you can’t deselect it (it shows a lock icon), you can only add further masks on top. See Masks.
- Spectral (hyperspectral insights) — the on-the-fly form of the Wavelength Analysis insight type. Set an Analyze Range between two shoulder wavelengths (up to 250 nm apart), then an Analyze Type: Band Depth (how deep the absorption between the shoulders is) or Absorption Feature (the wavelength of maximum absorption). See Creating Insights for the full Wavelength Analysis explanation.
- Distance to Point — the on-the-fly form of the Distance Analysis insight: enter a reference point and every pixel is scored by how far its spectrum sits from that point’s spectrum (by the SAM spectral-angle metric), so pixels most like your reference stand out. See Creating Insights for the distance metrics (SAM, SID, SED, EMD).
- Principal Component Analysis (PCA) — Compute full-image PCA over all raw bands of the current instrument and choose how many components (1–10). The first components usually capture most of the spectral variance and highlight the major lithological and alteration contrasts.
Applying, and saving what you did #
- Apply re-plots the full layer with your settings (its usage cost is shown on the button).
- Add to workflow records the enhancement you just applied as a step. Once you’ve recorded one or more steps, you can save the whole thing as a workflow from the Workflows panel — so the analysis and its enhancements replay in one click. See Saved Workflows.
Good to know #
- Remote Miner exposes the full toolset; Remote Enviro shows only stretching, palette and masks (the advanced Insight/Image tools are hidden).
- PCA is not available on trial accounts.
- Which tools appear also depends on the insight itself: Decorrelation Stretch needs a 3-band composite, Threshold needs a single-band insight, Spectral needs a hyperspectral (wavelength-bearing) insight, Distance to Point is hidden on distance insights, and the palette only appears when the insight has one — the panel only shows what applies to the layer on top.