FAQ

This guide is for ArcGIS Location Platform and ArcGIS Online developers who want to perform spatial analysis with client APIs and spatial analysis services. However, many of the topics and programming patterns apply to ArcGIS Enterprise developers who want to use services hosted in their own infrastructure. For these services, the REST API is the same and the base URLs can be substituted in the code examples. In most cases, the client APIs and programming patterns used to access both ArcGIS services and ArcGIS Enterprise services are also the same.

You need ArcGIS Location Platform, ArcGIS Online, or ArcGIS Enterprise to perform spatial analysis. The table below shows the account types you can use to access each analysis type:

The following table provides an overview of the functionality available with each type of authentication:

The cost of performing spatial analysis depends on the type of account you have:

• ArcGIS Location Platform: Uses a pay-as-you-go billing model with a monthly free tier for select services. To learn more, go to ArcGIS Location Platform > Pricing.

• ArcGIS Online: Uses a credit consumption model to access services. To learn about the cost per transaction, go to ArcGIS Online > Understand credits for spatial analysis.

Esri's Terms of Use documents include legal guidelines for the use of Esri products, services, and data.

Some of the key documents you will find are the:

1. Master Agreements
2. Product-specific Terms of Use
3. ArcGIS Location Platform Agreements
4. Data attributions and Terms of Use
5. Copyrights and Trademarks

Geometry analysis is the process of using a client-side API to perform one or more operations on a point, polyline, or polygon to solve a geometric problem. You can use geometry operations to determine the spatial relationship between geometries, perform calculations such as creating a buffer, measure distance and area, and project geometries. The operation you use depends on the type of problem you are trying to solve.

To learn more go to Introduction to geometry analysis

You can perform many different types of geometry analysis with the ArcGIS Maps SDKs. The operations are categorized into the following:

• Spatial relationship: Determines the topological association between two geometries and returns true or false.
• Geometric calculation: Evaluate one or more geometries and return a new geometry.
• Length and area: Calculate the length, distance, and area of one or more geometries.
• Projection: Projects one or more input geometries from one spatial reference to another.

In general, there are three main steps in performing a geometry analysis:

1. Select a geometry operation, such as spatial relationships, geometric calculation, length and area, or projection.
2. Create one or more geometries with the same spatial reference. Geometry data is typically created through user interaction or by accessing features in a hosted feature layer.
3. Use the created geometries as parameters to the operation in the client API.

To learn more, go to How to perform geometry analysis

Feature analysis is the process of using the feature analysis service to perform server-side geometric and analytic operations on feature data. To access the service, you can use ArcGIS tools or APIs to execute different types of analyses. For example, you can find features, merge or overlay features, calculate feature statistics, or find patterns and relationships in feature data. The operation you use depends on the type of problem you are trying to solve.

Feature analysis can help solve many different types of problems. For example, you can use it to:

• Understand where features are or where multiple features exist.
• Measure sizes, shapes, and distributions of features.
• Analyze relationships and interactions between features.
• Detect and quantify patterns and relationships between features.
• Make predictions based on existing or theoretical patterns and relationships.

To Learn more go to Introduction to feature analysis

You can perform many different types of analyses with the feature analysis service. The operations are categorized into the following:

• Find data: Find feature data with a SQL or spatial query or export feature data to create new feature data.
• Combine data: Merge, overlay, and join multiple sources of feature data to create new feature data.
• Summarize data: Calculate spatial and attribute statistics on feature data to create new feature data.
• Analyze patterns: Perform complex geometry, attribute, and statistic calculations to identify spatial patterns and relationships in feature data. All operations result in new feature data.
• Calculate geometries: Perform different types of geometric calculations on feature data and create new feature data such as grids, tessellations, and bins.

To learn more go to Types of feature analysis

In general, there are four steps to perform a feature analysis:

1. Prepare input feature data. In most cases, you will want to perform an analysis with your own data, but you can also use existing data hosted in ArcGIS.
2. Select an operation. The operation you use depends on the type of data you have and the problem you want to solve.
3. Perform the analysis. You can use different ArcGIS software, tools, and APIs. In many cases, it is helpful to start by using tools to perform analyses interactively.
4. After you perform an analysis, the most common step is to display the results in a map or use the results as input for further analysis.

To learn more go to How to perform feature analysis

Raster analysis is the process of using client-side APIs or server-side operations on raster data to solve a geospatial problem. You can use raster operations and functions to perform analysis such as detecting patterns, data classifictaion, deep learning analysis, data summarization, multidimensional analysis and raster data management. The operation you use depends on the type of problem you are trying to solve. Raster analysis provides an efficient and powerful set of tools for quantitative analysis, modeling, and visualization of continuous geographic phenomena. It is particularly well-suited for analyzing phenomena like elevation, slope, aspect, chemical concentrations, and other variables that can be represented as a continuous raster surface.

Use raster analysis to:

• Perform operations like overlay analysis, neighborhood operations, and map algebra.
• Process large raster datasets.
• Classify land cover.
• Perform change detection.
• Perform suitability mapping and site selection.

To learn more go to Introduction to raster analysis

You can perform raster analysis using two different methods:

1. Raster operations: A raster operation is an asynchronous server-side request to a task of the raster analysis service.
2. Raster functions: A raster function is an operation that can be chained together for complex workflows.

To learn more go to Types of raster analysis

Use the following steps to perform an analysis using a raster operation:

1. Prepare your data to use as input to the analysis.
2. Choose an operation based on your data and the problem you are wanting to solve.
3. Perform the operation by making a request to the raster analysis service.
4. Add the analysis results to a map or use as input to another operation.

To learn more go to How to perform raster analysis with raster operations.

To perform an analysis using raster functions:

1. Choose one or more functions that will solve the problem.
2. Use a tool to create a raster function template.
3. Make a request to the raster analysis service and handle the results.

To learn more go to How to perform raster analysis with functions.

A 3D visual analysis is a type of spatial analysis that calculates and displays spatial information derived from the terrain, buildings, and other 3D objects contained within a scene. 3D visual analysis consists of two major classes of analysis: visibility analyses which determine what is visible from a certain point and measurement analyses which determine the physical dimensions of 3D elements. 3D visual analysis is typically an interactive process and the results can be updated as the user input and environment change. When an analysis is complete, the results can be displayed on a scene to solve problems and gain a better understanding of complex 3D environments.

You can use 3D visual analyses to:

• Display the visibility (viewshed) of surface terrain and 3D objects from a viewpoint.
• Calculate and display the visibility of a target from an observer.
• Dynamically make line-of-sight and visibility calculations.
• Measure the vertical, horizontal, and direct distance between two points.
• Measure the area and perimeter of a polygon.

To learn more go to Introduction to 3D visual analysis

There are four types of 3D visual operations:

• Viewshed: Calculates and displays the visibility of surroundings from an observer's perspective in a scene.
• Line of sight: Calculates if a target location is visible from an observer location in a scene.
• Distance measurement: Calculates and displays the distance between two points in a scene.
• Area measurement: Calculates and displays the area of a polygon in a scene.

To learn more go to Types of 3D visual operations

The steps to perform a 3D visual analysis are:

1. Create a global or local scene.
2. Select an operation to solve the problem.
3. Perform the analysis by providing parameters to your selected operation.
4. Use a scene view to display the analysis results.

To learn more go to How to perform 3D visual analysis