Create buffers

A buffer analysis resulting in a new layer with 1000 feet areas around high schools.

What is a buffer analysis?

A buffer analysis is the process of creating an area at a distance around a point, line, or polygon feature. To execute the analysis, use the spatial analysis service and the CreateBuffers operation.

Real-world examples of this analysis include the following:

Creating a buffer around schools.
Creating a buffer around transit lines.
Generating a buffer around points of interest.

After calculating a buffer area, you can use the resulting polygon for further analysis to answer questions such as: how many points of interest are within a mile of a specific location, or what buildings are within 500 feet of a school?

How to create a buffer

The general steps to create a buffer are as follows:

Review the parameters for the CreateBuffers operation.
Send a request to get the spatial analysis service URL.
Execute a job request with the following URL and parameters:
- URL: https://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/submitJob
- Parameters:
  - inputLayer: Your points dataset as a hosted feature layer or feature collection.
  - distances or field: The value containing the buffer distance. Use distances if you want multiple distances with which to calculate buffers.
  - outputName: A string representing the name of the hosted feature layer to reutrn with the results.
Check the status.
Get the output layer results.

To see examples using ArcGIS API for Python, ArcGIS REST JS, and the ArcGIS REST API, go to Examples below.

URL request

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http://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/submitJob?<parameters>

Required parameters

Name	Description	Examples
`f`	The format of the data returned.	`f=json` `f=pjson`
`token`	An OAuth 2.0 access token. Learn how to get an access token in Security and authentication.	`token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>`
`inputLayer`	The point, line, or polygon features to be buffered.	`{"url":"https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Police_Stations/FeatureServer/0","name":"Police Stations"}`
`distances`	If not using `field`. The value with which the buffer will be calculated.	`1`
`field`	If not using `distances`. A field within the `inputLayer` containing a buffer distance.	`ATTRIBUTE_FIELD`

Key parameters

Name	Description	Examples
`units`	The unit to be used with the specified distance values.	`Meters`, `Kilometers`, `Miles`
`dissolveType`	Determines whether overlapping buffers are split, dissolved, or kept.	`None`, `Dissolve`, `Split`
`outputName`	A string representing the name of the hosted feature layer to return with the results. NOTE: If you do not include this parameter, the results are returned as a feature collection (JSON).	`{"serviceProperties": {"name": "<SERVICE_NAME>"}}`
`context`	A bounding box or output spatial reference for the analysis.	`"extent":{"xmin:", "ymin:", "xmax:", "ymax:"}`

Code examples

Bike routes (lines)

This example uses the CreateBuffers operation to create areas 200 feet around bike routes.

Buffer analysis showing 200 ft areas around bike routes.

APIs

ArcGIS API for Python

ArcGIS REST JS

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input_layer = "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Portland%20Bike%20Routes/FeatureServer/0"

results = create_buffers(
    input_layer=input_layer,
    dissolve_type="Dissolve",
    distances=[200],
    units="Feet",
    ring_type="Rings",
    context={
        "extent": {
            "xmin": -13727534.4477,
            "ymin": 5604395.5062,
            "xmax": -13547856.7377,
            "ymax": 5741928.7477,
            "spatialReference": {"wkid": 102100},
        }
    },
    #Outputs results as a hosted feature layer.
    output_name="Create buffer results"
)

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Go to API Reference

Service requests

Request

HTTPHTTPcURL
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POST arcgis.com/sharing/rest/portals/self HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
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Response (JSON)

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{
  "helperServices": {
    // Other parameters
    "analysis": {
      "url": "https://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer"
    },
    "geoenrichment": {
      "url": "https://geoenrich.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeoenrichmentServer"
    }
  }
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/submitJob HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
&inputLayer={"url":"https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Portland Bike Routes/FeatureServer/0","name":"Portland Bike Routes"}
&dissolveType=Dissolve
&distances=[200]
&units=Feet
&ringType=Rings
&sideType=Full
&endType=Round
&outputName={"serviceProperties":{"name":"Create buffer results"}}
&context={"extent":{"xmin":-13662729.567933429,"ymin":5698255.281363884,"xmax":-13646142.732795566,"ymax":5708813.1458957605,"spatialReference":{"wkid":102100,"latestWkid":3857}}}

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSubmitted",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/jobs/<JOB_ID> HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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// Executing job
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobExecuting",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}
// Job succeeded
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSucceeded",
  "results": {
      "bufferLayer": {
          "paramUrl": "results/bufferLayer"
      },
  },
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/jobs/<JOB_ID>/results/bufferLayer HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&returnType=data
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "paramName": "bufferLayer",
  "dataType": "GPString",
  "value": {
      "url": "<SERVICE_URL>",
      "itemId": "<ITEM_ID>"
  }
}

Recreational parcels (polygons)

This example uses the CreateBuffers operation to create areas one mile around recreational parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains Parcels hosted feature layer.

Buffer analysis showing 1 mile areas around recreational parcels.

APIs

ArcGIS API for Python

ArcGIS REST JS

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input_layer = "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Santa_Monica_Mountains_Parcels/FeatureServer/0/query?where=UseType='Recreational'"

results = create_buffers(
    input_layer=input_layer,
    dissolve_type="Dissolve",
    distances=[1],
    units="Miles",
    ring_type="Rings",
    context={
        "extent": {
            "xmin": -13241162.787695415,
            "ymin": 4029393.2145536076,
            "xmax": -13208887.252502043,
            "ymax": 4049992.993676435,
            "spatialReference": {"wkid": 102100},
        }
    },
    #Outputs results as a hosted feature layer.
    output_name="Create buffer results"
)

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Go to API Reference

Service requests

Request

HTTPHTTPcURL
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POST arcgis.com/sharing/rest/portals/self HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
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Response (JSON)

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{
  "helperServices": {
    // Other parameters
    "analysis": {
      "url": "https://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer"
    },
    "geoenrichment": {
      "url": "https://geoenrich.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeoenrichmentServer"
    }
  }
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/submitJob HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
&inputLayer={"url":"https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Santa_Monica_Mountains_Parcels/FeatureServer/0","filter":"UseType = 'Recreational'","name":"Santa_Monica_Mountains_Parcels"}
&dissolveType=Dissolve
&distances=[1]
&units=Miles
&ringType=Rings
&sideType=Full
&endType=Round
&outputName={"serviceProperties":{"name":"Create buffer results"}}
&context={"extent":{"xmin":-13241162.787695415,"ymin":4029393.2145536076,"xmax":-13208887.252502043,"ymax":4049992.993676435,"spatialReference":{"wkid":102100,"latestWkid":3857}}}

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSubmitted",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/jobs/<JOB_ID> HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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// Executing job
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobExecuting",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}
// Job succeeded
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSucceeded",
  "results": {
      "bufferLayer": {
          "paramUrl": "results/bufferLayer"
      },
  },
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/CreateBuffers/jobs/<JOB_ID>/results/bufferLayer HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&returnType=data
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "paramName": "bufferLayer",
  "dataType": "GPString",
  "value": {
      "url": "<SERVICE_URL>",
      "itemId": "<ITEM_ID>"
  }
}

Tutorials

Learn how to perform related analyses interactively with Map Viewer and programmatically with ArcGIS API for Python, ArcGIS REST JS, and ArcGIS REST API.

Find data sources

Discover data in ArcGIS that you can use for feature analysis.

ArcGIS Online

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Services

Spatial analysis service

Process spatial datasets to discover relationships and patterns.

API support

	Create buffers	Create centroids	Generate tessellations
ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript	¹	¹	¹
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	¹	¹	¹
Esri Leaflet	²	²	²
MapBox GL JS	²	²	²
OpenLayers	²	²	²

Full supportPartial supportNo support

1. Access with geoprocessing task
2. Access via ArcGIS REST JS

Tools

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Explore, visualize, and analyze both 2D and 3D data with desktop GIS tools.

Mapping APIs and location services

Create buffers

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