[GIS] Merging large amount of adjacent polygons based on attribute field using ArcGIS Desktop

arcgis-desktopidentitymerge

I have overlaid two shapefiles with the tool "Identity".

Thus thousands of slivers were created. I eliminated slivers that are smaller than a certain area. But there are still several thousands left. I can not just eliminate them because it would merge them to neighboring polygons with the biggest area. In my case, this would set some forest to grassland.

I want to merge them based on attribute field, how can I achieve it?

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Best Answer

I would use the Dissolve tool for this task. As it is described in the help it should dissolve your polygons the way you need it. You can select a Dissolve_Field which in your case should be the attribute with the landcover type.

ArcMAP help image description of the Dissolve tool

Remember to check or uncheck the multipart feature box depending if you want to have separate polygons or only one with multiple parts.

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