Types of feature analysis

You can perform many different types of analyses with the .

The operations are categorized into the following:

  1. Find data
  2. Combine data
  3. Summarize data
  4. Analyze patterns
  5. Calculate geometries

Click on the links below to learn how to execute each operation programmatically with and the .

Find data

Find data operations allow you to find with a SQL or spatial query or to export to create new .

OperationDescription
Input data
Output data
Example
Find existing locationsSelects that satisfy one or more SQL and/or spatial expressions and returns new .Point, polyline, or polygon Point, polyline, or polygon find existing locations
Derive new locationsSelects and can modify to satisfy one or more SQL and/or spatial expressions and returns new .Point, polyline, or polygon Point, polyline, or polygon derrive new locations
Extract featuresSelects and exports that satisfy a SQL and/or spatial expression and creates new stored as a file in a new . Feature data can be converted to CSV, KML, file geodatabase, or shapefile format.Point, polyline, or polygon Point, line, or polygon in a file in a extract data

Combine data

Combine data operations allow you to merge, overlay, and join multiple sources of to create new .

OperationDescription
Input data
Output data
Example
Merge layersCombines two and returns a new a . The input must contain the same type of geometry (point, polyline, or polygon). Attributes can be added, removed, renamed, or matched.Point, polyline, or polygon Point, polyline, or polygon merge layers
Overlay layersCombines two or more using intersect, union, or erase and returns a new . All of the feature attributes are persisted in the output .Point, polyline, or polygon Point, polyline, or polygon overlay layers
Join featuresCombines the attributes from one to another based on spatial and/or attribute relationships and returns new . The type of attribute and spatial relationship join operations can be specified. Feature geometry and attribute summary statistics can also be generated.Point, polyline, polygon, or table Point, polyline, polygon, or table join features
Dissolve boundariesCombines polygons from that overlap or share a common boundary and returns new . Feature geometry and attribute summary statistics can also be generated.Polygon Polygon dissolve boundaries

Summarize data

Summarize data operations allow you to calculate spatial and attribute statistics on to create new .

OperationDescription
Input data
Output data
Example
Aggregate pointsFinds which points fall inside polygons using a point-in-polygon spatial relationship and returns new . Feature geometry and attribute statistics are also generated for the number of points in each polygon.Point or polygon Polygon aggregate points
Summarize nearbyFinds within a specified distance of other and returns new . The distance measure can be a straight line or defined by travel mode (e.g. drive time or distance). Feature geometry and attribute statistics are also generated.Point, polyline, or polygon Point, polyline, or polygon summarize nearby
Summarize withinFinds areas (and portions of areas) that overlap between two , calculates statistics about the overlap, and returns new . Additional feature geometry and attribute statistics are also generated.Polygon features
Point, polyline, or polygon
Point, polyline, or polygon summarize within
Summarize center and dispersionFinds central and directional distribution in and returns new . It calculates the central, mean center, median center, or ellipse of features to determine the distribution.Point, line, or polygon Polygon summarize center and dispersion

Analyze patterns

Analyze patterns operations allow you to perform complex geometry, attribute, and statistic calculations to identify spatial patterns and relationships in feature data. All operations result in new .

OperationDescription
Input data
Output data
Example
Find hot spotsFinds spatially and statistically significant clusters of with high values (red hot spots) and low values (blue cold spots) and returns new . Calculations can be performed on geometries or geometries and attributes.Point or polygon Point or polygon find hot spots
Find outliersFinds spatial and statistical anomalies in clusters of and returns new . Features are assigned colors from red, blue, to beige (significantly high outlier to significantly low outlier).Point or polygon Point or polygon find outliers
Find point clustersFinds clusters of point features at a specified distance and using unsupervised machine learning clustering algorithms and returns new .Point Point find point clusters
Calculate densityFinds areas in that are the most and least dense and returns new . It spreads known quantities of some phenomenon (represented as attributes of the points or lines) to create polygon features.Point or line Polygon calculate density
Interpolate pointsFinds and predicts new and values in point and returns new . Parameters can be used to control the speed and accuracy of the analysis.Point Polygon interpolate points

Calculate geometries

Calculate geometries operations allow you to perform different types of geometric calculations on feature data and to create new feature data such as grids, tessellations, and bins.

OperationDescription
Input data
Output data
Example
Create buffersCreates areas at a distance around a point, line, or polygon and returns new .Point, polyline, or polygon Polygon create buffers
Find centroidsFinds the representative center (centroid) of each multipoint, polyline, or polygon and returns new .Multipoint, point, polyline, or polygon Multipoint, point, polyline, or polygon find centroids
Generate tessellationsCreates equally sized square, hexagon, triangle, or diamond bins for an area or extent and returns new .Not requiredPolygon generate tessellations

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