Summary
Returns polygons of visible areas for a given set of input observation points.
Usage
Tools in the Ready To Use toolbox are ArcGIS Online geoprocessing services that use hosted data and analysis capabilities in ArcGIS Online.
There are several elevation sources available that have different spatial resolution and cover different areas. Not all resolutions are available for all areas. The tool will return an error message if the specified resolution is not available at any of the input observer locations.
If the DEM Resolution parameter is not supplied, the coarsest resolution (90m) will be used. If Finest is specified, the tool will use the highest resolution available at the observer location allowed by the Maximum Distance parameter.
For the Maximum Distance parameter, the allowed value for the 10m and 30m DEM resolutions is 15 kilometers or less. For the 90m DEM resolution, the allowed value is 50 kilometers or less. If this parameter is not specified, the tool will use a default value based on the DEM Resolution parameter. For 10m resolution, the default maximum distance is 5 kilometers. For both the 30m and the 90m DEM resolutions, the default distance is 15 kilometers.
The tool uses a single resolution elevation source for the input features. All of the input features must fit into a single resolution; if they don't, the tool will identify the highest resolution that will cover the input features.
Visibility into water is limited, so the tool uses the water surface as the elevation surface. Oceans are assigned a value of zero and major water bodies are assigned an appropriate flat local elevation.
The output viewshed is returned as polygon features. The Frequency field is used to record the number of observation points from which each polygon is visible. The DEMResolution field is used to record the source DEM resolution for the viewshed computation.
Three additional fields are returned that identify the DEM data source used in the calculation. Those fields are Product Name, Source, and Source URL.
A lower DEM resolution will result in a faster tool response. For example, the 90m resolution has the shortest response time. The tradeoff is that a lower DEM resolution has a lower accuracy in the viewshed result compared to that of a higher DEM resolution.
The Maximum Distance parameter may also affect the tool response time. In general, using a smaller distance results in a shorter response time.
The maximum number of input points is 1,000. If more than 1,000 input points are provided, the tool will return an error and will not execute.
Syntax
arcpy.agolservices.Viewshed(InputPoints, {MaximumDistance}, {MaximumDistanceUnits}, {DEMResolution}, {ObserverHeight}, {ObserverHeightUnits}, {SurfaceOffset}, {SurfaceOffsetUnits}, {GeneralizeViewshedPolygons})
Parameter | Explanation | Data Type |
InputPoints | The point features to use as the observer locations. | Feature Set |
MaximumDistance (Optional) | The maximum distance to calculate the viewshed. | Double |
MaximumDistanceUnits (Optional) | Specifies the units for the Maximum Distance parameter.
| String |
DEMResolution (Optional) |
Specifies the approximate spatial resolution (cell size) of the source elevation data used for the calculation. The resolution keyword is an approximation of the spatial resolution of the digital elevation model. Many elevation sources are distributed in units of arc seconds; the keyword is an approximation in meters for easier understanding.
| String |
ObserverHeight (Optional) | The height above the surface of the observer. The default value of 1.75 meters is an average height of a person. If you are looking from an elevated location such as an observation tower or a tall building, use that height instead. | Double |
ObserverHeightUnits (Optional) | Specifies the units for the Observer Height parameter.
| String |
SurfaceOffset (Optional) | The height above the surface of the object you are viewing. The default value is 0. If you are viewing buildings or wind turbines, use their height. | Double |
SurfaceOffsetUnits (Optional) | Specifies the units for the Surface Offset parameter.
| String |
GeneralizeViewshedPolygons (Optional) | Specifies whether the viewshed polygons will be generalized. The viewshed calculation is based on a raster elevation model that creates a result with stair-stepped edges. To create a more pleasing appearance and improve performance, the default behavior generalizes the polygons. This generalization will not change the accuracy of the result for any location more than one half of the DEM resolution.
| Boolean |
Derived Output
Name | Explanation | Data Type |
OutputViewshed | The output viewshed. | Feature Set |