GIS 5100 Visibility Analysis

 This weeks lab changed things up a bit by having us take 4 courses on  the ESRI site. 

Intro to 3D Visualization

There were many new techniques in this ESRI lab.  One of my favorite techniques was Global scene effects. Using the Illuminations settings to display shadows and then taking it further to be able to choose the specific date and time was super fun. I was impressed by the realism that added to the scene. Interesting tip: If you want to be able to tee through the front or back of a 3D object use Face Culling. To do this you select the layer in the contents pane. In the appearance tab navigate to the faces group, click on the down arrow and it gives you choices of none, back, front, and built-in.  Although it was not helpful in this exercise, I can see opportunities for application.

Performing Line of Sight Analysis

This lab was involved more usage of the geoprocessing tools. It was very interesting to see how line of sight scenes are constructed. I learned how to use add Z information tool to calculate the sight line lengths and append the results to the attribute table.  This allows you to use Select By Attributes and Delete Features to remove unwanted lines.  In the case of our exercise that was lines longer than 1,100 feet.   The variety of applications discussed was very interesting. I like how easily you can determine the blind spots at a glance.

 

Performing Viewshed Analysis in ArcGIS Pro

In this exercise we used viewshed (3D Analyst Tool). We were examining a campground and illumination from pole lights.  We used Raster Functions and modified attributes to see how campground light coverage differed with lights at different heights. We found that by changing the OFFSETA (attribute table field) from 3m to 10m the coverage was significantly increased.

 

Sharing 3D Content Using Scene Layer Packages

In this exercise we authored a 3D scene. We chose Global Scene because of the extent and the importance of the curvature of the earth for this project. We converted 2D data to 3D data. We gave the trees and buildings height by adding elevation sources and surface information. The exercise required utilizing the Layer 3D to Feature Class and Feature to 3D By Attribute tools. Once we had the completed scene we moved to the next phase of creating a scene layer package to publish and share through the use of the Create 3D Object Scene Layer Content tool. The package can be viewed on ArcGIS Online Scene Viewer, ArcGIS Earth, and ArcGIS Pro. I think this is a great way to present new information and to collaborate with the person, group or public you choose to allow access to.

This is an example of slide capture and my utilization of the Daylight tool to select the level of sun exposure/shadowing I liked the best