3D measurement
What is a 3D measurement analysis?
A 3D measurement is a type of operation that calculates and displays measurements of elements in a 3D scene. 3D measurement operations can measure the direct, vertical, and horizontal distance between points, as well as the area and perimeter of polygons.
Real-world use cases for 3D measurement analysis include the following:
- Measuring the actual size of countries and states, which are often distorted by map projections.
- Measuring the topographic prominence of hills and mountain ranges.
- Visualizing the distance between map features to gain a deeper understanding of spatial relationships.
- Determining the size and shape of real estate plots.
- Designing urban structures.
Types of 3D measurement operations
The following table describes the different types of 3D measurement operations:
Operation | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
Location , Direct | Measures direct, vertical, and horizontal distance between two point locations in a scene. |
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Area | Measures the area and perimeter of a 2D polygon. Only available in ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript. |
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Distance measurement
A distance measurement analysis is a type of measurement analysis that calculates and displays the distance between a 3D start and end point. The analysis evaluates the vertical, horizontal, and direct distances between the two points and renders a measurement visualization in the scene view.
If the length of the distance line exceeds 100km, the measurement method will be geodesic to account for the Earth's curvature. Otherwise, the analysis will be a planar measurement.
Area measurement
An area measurement analysis is a type of measurement analysis that calculates the area of a polygon in a scene. The analysis evaluates the surface area and perimeter of a polygon and renders a measurement visualization in the scene view. The measurement polygon can have points at differing heights (z
values), but must be two-dimensional.
If a side of the shape's perimeter exceeds 100km, the measurement method will be geodesic to account for the Earth's curvature. Otherwise, the analysis will be a planar measurement.
How to perform a 3D measurement
The following are the basic steps to performing 3D distance and area measurement with ArcGIS APIs.
Distance measurement
Create a scene view and set its extent to the desired location.
Identify the segment you want to measure and create two points to mark its beginning and end.
Create a
Location
and set its start and end to the points you created.Distance Measurement Add the
Location
to a newDistance Measurement Analysis
.Overlay Add the
Analysis
to the scene view to display the results.Overlay
Area measurement
Create a scene view and set its extent to the desired location.
Create a new
Area
operation, either directly or through theMeasurement Analysis Area
widget.Measurement3D Supply an area for the operation to measure, either by providing an existing polygon or by sketching a new one through the
Area
widget.Measurement3D Add the operation to the scene view to view the measurement results.
Code examples
Distance measurement
This example calculates and displays measurements of buildings in New York City. You can create 3D Distance measurements either by directly using the analysis operation or by using the JavaScript Direct
widget.
Area measurement
This example calculates and displays the area of different real estate parcels when they are clicked. It calculates area using the Area
operation, rather than the AreaMeasurement3D widget.
Tutorials

Display a viewshed
Perform and display a viewshed analysis in a 3D scene.

Display a line of sight
Perform and display a line of sight analysis in a 3D scene.

Measure a distance in 3D
Evaluate the horizontal, vertical, and direct distances between two points in a 3D scene.
API support
Viewshed analysis | Line of sight analysis | Distance measurement | Area measurement | |
---|---|---|---|---|
ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript | 1 | 2 | ||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET | ||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Kotlin | ||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Swift | ||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Java | ||||
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Qt | ||||
ArcGIS API for Python | ||||
ArcGIS REST JS | ||||
Esri Leaflet | ||||
MapBox GL JS | ||||
OpenLayers |
- 1. Access with geoprocessing task
- 2. Supports point location line of sight
Tool support
Viewshed analysis | Line of sight analysis | Distance measurement | Area measurement | |
---|---|---|---|---|
ArcGIS Pro | ||||
ArcGIS Scene Viewer |