Introduction
In this lab I was introduced to using Aspect Analysis, Viewshed, and, Line of Sight within ARC-GIS Pro. Aspect Analysis is a tool that allows for the visualization of the direction of slopes that you would find on a surface such as that of a mountain side. Line of Sight is another spatial tool that helps to find where the placement or positioning of something would best be suited so that obstructions are limited. View-shed which is another closely related geospatial analysis tool helps us analyze the environment to find surfaces that are visible given certain factors such as elevation. We will discuss these in more depth later on in the Discussion and Deliverables section of this post.
Methods
For this lab I followed the instructions of a ESRI tutorial. Through different sections of the tutorial I was asked to perform different tasks which contributed to the continued understanding of the functionality of the tools/concepts discussed above in the Introduction section of this blog. After the different sections of the lab I was tasked with testing my knowledge by completing an exam on each of the three tools discussed. As a result of my completion of all the tasks given to me I received 3 separate certificates showcasing my understanding of these new tools and concept (Viewshed, Aspect Analysis, Line of Sight).
Discussion and Deliverables
One of the key aspects that make a Aspect analysis a very useful spatial analysis tool is the way it uses different colors to illustrate the direction of the slope of say a mountain are going. If you are a ski resort owner and you want to be able to visualize slope direction to find additional ski runs with a certain slope direction being able to run an Aspect analysis is the best way of identifying such areas of interest.
Figure 1: Aspect Analysis
Figure 2: This is the key that corresponds to figure one.
A view shed analysis is another great spatial analysis tool that can be used in certain situation as discussed earlier. Running this sort of tool helps identify areas that would allow a viewer for example to see a certain building.
Figure 3: Areas with a good view of Murray point are seen in the bright yellow. This was done by creating a viewshed layer.
Another great spatial analysis tool that will be looked at is the Line of Sight tool. The tool is similar to the view shed analysis tool except it is easier to understand visually at it can identify viewing obstruction based off of a certain viewing position. The usages of this are very practical. One such example is if you are at a parade and want Thebes possible angle of the parade with no obstructions. Using the Line of Sight tool can help identify where you will have obstructions and where you will be clear of obstructions giving you the most ideal viewing location of the parade.
Figure 4: Line of sight lines constructed, however this time green lines mean the view is not obstructed while any red lines mean the view is obstructed. The red lines can be seen in the back of the image.
Another key aspect of the line of sight tool is that you have the ability to query out any of the obstructed views so that you are filtering them out and only seeing the views that are not obstructed.
Figure 5: Certificate of completion of the Terrain Analysis tutorial .
Figure 6: Certificate of completion of the Viewshed Analysis tutorial.
Figure 7: Certificate of completion of the Line of Sight Analysis tutorial.
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