Buffer and intersect geometry | ArcGIS for Developers

ArcGIS Tutorials REST API Spatial Analysis

Overview

You will learn: how to buffer and intersect points and polygons using the ArcGIS Geometry Service.

The ArcGIS Geometry Serivice can perform sophisticated spatial operations with geometry such as buffering, projecting, simplification, calculating areas and lengths, and determining spatial relationships. If you want to create an application that can create a buffer and determine if a point intersects the geometry, you can use the ArcGIS REST API and the buffer and relation operation. All you need to do is pass in the geometry, distance, and spatial relationship to use, and the results will be returned. To learn more about all of the possible geometric operations, please visit the documentation.

In this tutorial you will use the ArcGIS REST API to access the ArcGIS Geometry Service to create a buffer and determine if it insects a point.

Before you begin

Install Postman to execute HTTP requests. Go to this tutorial if you need an access token.

Steps

Create a request to access the geometry service

Open Postman and click [+] in the tab bar to create a new request.
In the new tab, set the following:
- HTTP Method: POST
- Request URL: https://tasks.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/Geometry/GeometryServer/buffer

Add parameters to define the type of buffer to create

Click on Body and add the following Key/Value pairs:

The buffer operation takes a number of parameters including the inSr - the input spatial reference, unit - the unit type code to measure the buffer in, distances - the distance to trace around the feature that are in unit measurements, geometries - the features to create buffers around.

You can find more information about the parameters this operation supports in the corresponding REST documentation page.
- f: json
- inSr: 4326
- unit: 9002
- distances: 1000
- geometries:
```
{
  "geometryType": "esriGeometryPoint",
  "geometries": [
    {
      "x": -118.80836,
      "y": 34.00217
    }
  ]
}
```

Execute the request to create a buffer

Click Send to run the request.

In the response window, change the view to JSON. The geometries property contains the polygon that was created. A polygon consists of one or more rings. In this case there was only one geometry and ring, but it contains many points that make up the buffer around the point.

{
"geometries": [
    {
        "rings": [
            [
                [
                    -118.80836000000002,
                    34.004917865738584
                ],
                [
                    -118.80819152891284,
                    34.00491428119004
                ],
                [
                    -118.80802349738985,
                    34.00490353689699
                ],
                [
                    -118.80785634384807,
                    34.004885660892718
                ],
                [
                    -118.80769050441303,
                    34.004860699818082
                ],
                [
                    -118.80752641178064,
                    34.004828718799772
                ],
                [
                    -118.80736449408786,
                    34.004789801280346
                ],
                [
                    -118.80720517379535,
                    34.004744048800461
                ],
                [
                    -118.80704886658502,
                    34.004691580733834
                ],
                [
                    -118.80689598027504,
                    34.004632533975759
                ],
                [
                    -118.8067469137558,
                    34.004567062585771
                ],
                [
                    -118.80660205594874,
                    34.004495337385649
                ],
                [
                    -118.80646178479165,
                    34.004417545513526
                ],
                [
                    -118.8063264662523,
                    34.004333889935609
                ],
                [
                    -118.8061964533736,
                    34.004244588916428
                ],
                [
                    -118.80607208535235,
                    34.004149875449244
                ],
                [
                    -118.80595368665435,
                    34.004049996648028
                ],
                [
                    -118.8058415661677,
                    34.00394521310259
                ],
                [
                    -118.80573601639708,
                    34.003835798198544
                ],
                [
                    -118.80563731270067,
                    34.003722037403897
                ],
                [
                    -118.80554571257183,
                    34.003604227524114
                ],
                [
                    -118.80546145496743,
                    34.003482675927614
                ],
                [
                    -118.80538475968476,
                    34.003357699743709
                ],
                [
                    -118.8053158267882,
                    34.003229625035132
                ],
                [
                    -118.80525483608757,
                    34.003098785947181
                ],
                [
                    -118.80520194666933,
                    34.002965523835833
                ],
                [
                    -118.80515729648184,
                    34.002830186377103
                ],
                [
                    -118.80512100197592,
                    34.002693126659899
                ],
                [
                    -118.80509315780128,
                    34.002554702264668
                ],
                [
                    -118.8050738365601,
                    34.002415274330538
                ],
                [
                    -118.80506308861794,
                    34.002275206613056
                ],
                [
                    -118.80506094197291,
                    34.002134864535094
                ],
                [
                    -118.80506740218294,
                    34.001994614233553
                ],
                [
                    -118.8050824523518,
                    34.001854821604148
                ],
                [
                    -118.80510605317356,
                    34.001715851346759
                ],
                [
                    -118.80513814303559,
                    34.001578066014098
                ],
                [
                    -118.8051786381798,
                    34.001441825065868
                ],
                [
                    -118.80522743292146,
                    34.001307483931001
                ],
                [
                    -118.80528439992533,
                    34.00117539308053
                ],
                [
                    -118.80534939053827,
                    34.0010458971133
                ],
                [
                    -118.80542223517742,
                    34.000919333857134
                ],
                [
                    -118.80550274377285,
                    34.000796033487518
                ],
                [
                    -118.8055907062638,
                    34.000676317666418
                ],
                [
                    -118.80568589314683,
                    34.000560498703251
                ],
                [
                    -118.8057880560749,
                    34.000448878740194
                ],
                [
                    -118.80589692850538,
                    34.00034174896421
                ],
                [
                    -118.8060122263955,
                    34.000239388847469
                ],
                [
                    -118.80613364894351,
                    34.000142065418444
                ],
                [
                    -118.80626087937353,
                    34.000050032565447
                ],
                [
                    -118.80639358576178,
                    33.999963530374423
                ],
                [
                    -118.8065314219027,
                    33.999882784502823
                ],
                [
                    -118.80667402821182,
                    33.999808005590992
                ],
                [
                    -118.80682103266393,
                    33.999739388712882
                ],
                [
                    -118.80697205176332,
                    33.999677112867232
                ],
                [
                    -118.80712669154416,
                    33.999621340510757
                ],
                [
                    -118.80728454859788,
                    33.999572217134464
                ],
                [
                    -118.80744521112554,
                    33.999529870884217
                ],
                [
                    -118.80760826001161,
                    33.999494412226511
                ],
                [
                    -118.80777326991718,
                    33.999465933660446
                ],
                [
                    -118.80793981038913,
                    33.999444509476405
                ],
                [
                    -118.80810744698287,
                    33.99943019556239
                ],
                [
                    -118.80827574239521,
                    33.999423029258239
                ],
                [
                    -118.80844425760482,
                    33.999423029258239
                ],
                [
                    -118.80861255301716,
                    33.99943019556239
                ],
                [
                    -118.8087801896109,
                    33.999444509476405
                ],
                [
                    -118.80894673008287,
                    33.999465933660439
                ],
                [
                    -118.80911173998842,
                    33.999494412226511
                ],
                [
                    -118.80927478887449,
                    33.999529870884217
                ],
                [
                    -118.80943545140215,
                    33.999572217134464
                ],
                [
                    -118.80959330845587,
                    33.999621340510764
                ],
                [
                    -118.8097479482367,
                    33.999677112867232
                ],
                [
                    -118.80989896733611,
                    33.999739388712882
                ],
                [
                    -118.81004597178821,
                    33.999808005590992
                ],
                [
                    -118.81018857809732,
                    33.999882784502823
                ],
                [
                    -118.81032641423825,
                    33.999963530374423
                ],
                [
                    -118.8104591206265,
                    34.000050032565447
                ],
                [
                    -118.81058635105651,
                    34.000142065418444
                ],
                [
                    -118.81070777360455,
                    34.000239388847469
                ],
                [
                    -118.81082307149465,
                    34.00034174896421
                ],
                [
                    -118.81093194392513,
                    34.000448878740194
                ],
                [
                    -118.81103410685321,
                    34.000560498703251
                ],
                [
                    -118.81112929373623,
                    34.000676317666418
                ],
                [
                    -118.81121725622718,
                    34.000796033487518
                ],
                [
                    -118.81129776482261,
                    34.000919333857134
                ],
                [
                    -118.81137060946176,
                    34.0010458971133
                ],
                [
                    -118.8114356000747,
                    34.00117539308053
                ],
                [
                    -118.81149256707859,
                    34.001307483931001
                ],
                [
                    -118.81154136182023,
                    34.001441825065868
                ],
                [
                    -118.81158185696444,
                    34.001578066014105
                ],
                [
                    -118.81161394682648,
                    34.001715851346759
                ],
                [
                    -118.81163754764823,
                    34.001854821604141
                ],
                [
                    -118.81165259781709,
                    34.001994614233553
                ],
                [
                    -118.81165905802712,
                    34.002134864535094
                ],
                [
                    -118.81165691138209,
                    34.002275206613056
                ],
                [
                    -118.81164616343993,
                    34.002415274330545
                ],
                [
                    -118.81162684219875,
                    34.002554702264675
                ],
                [
                    -118.81159899802411,
                    34.002693126659892
                ],
                [
                    -118.81156270351819,
                    34.002830186377111
                ],
                [
                    -118.81151805333072,
                    34.002965523835833
                ],
                [
                    -118.81146516391246,
                    34.003098785947181
                ],
                [
                    -118.81140417321183,
                    34.003229625035132
                ],
                [
                    -118.81133524031527,
                    34.003357699743709
                ],
                [
                    -118.8112585450326,
                    34.003482675927614
                ],
                [
                    -118.8111742874282,
                    34.003604227524114
                ],
                [
                    -118.81108268729936,
                    34.003722037403904
                ],
                [
                    -118.81098398360295,
                    34.003835798198544
                ],
                [
                    -118.81087843383234,
                    34.00394521310259
                ],
                [
                    -118.8107663133457,
                    34.004049996648028
                ],
                [
                    -118.81064791464769,
                    34.004149875449244
                ],
                [
                    -118.81052354662643,
                    34.004244588916428
                ],
                [
                    -118.81039353374773,
                    34.004333889935609
                ],
                [
                    -118.81025821520838,
                    34.004417545513526
                ],
                [
                    -118.81011794405129,
                    34.004495337385649
                ],
                [
                    -118.80997308624423,
                    34.004567062585771
                ],
                [
                    -118.80982401972499,
                    34.004632533975759
                ],
                [
                    -118.80967113341502,
                    34.004691580733841
                ],
                [
                    -118.80951482620468,
                    34.004744048800461
                ],
                [
                    -118.80935550591217,
                    34.004789801280339
                ],
                [
                    -118.80919358821939,
                    34.004828718799772
                ],
                [
                    -118.809029495587,
                    34.004860699818082
                ],
                [
                    -118.80886365615196,
                    34.004885660892711
                ],
                [
                    -118.80869650261018,
                    34.004903536896983
                ],
                [
                    -118.80852847108719,
                    34.00491428119004
                ],
                [
                    -118.80836000000002,
                    34.004917865738584
                ]
            ]
        ]
    }
  ]
}

Copy the geometry value above as you will need it for the next step.

In Postman click Code below the Send button. Select a programming language and use Postman to generate sample code for your application to run this request.

Create a request to determine if a point intersects the buffer

Open Postman and click [+] in the tab bar to create a new request.
In the new tab, set the following:
- HTTP Method: POST
- Request URL: http://tasks.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/Geometry/GeometryServer/relation

Add parameters to define the point and polygon relationship to evaluate

Click on Body and add the following Key/Value pairs:

f: json
sr: 4326
relation: esriGeometryRelationIntersection
geometries1:

{
  "geometryType":"esriGeometryPoint",
  "geometries":[
    {
      "x":-118.80836,
      "y":34.00217
    }
  ]
}

geometries2:

{
  "geometryType":"esriGeometryPolygon",
  "geometries":[
    {
      "rings":[
        [
          [
            -118.80836000000002,
            34.004917865738584
          ],
          [
            -118.80819152891284,
            34.00491428119004
          ],
          [
            -118.80802349738985,
            34.00490353689699
          ],
          [
            -118.80785634384807,
            34.004885660892718
          ],
          [
            -118.80769050441303,
            34.004860699818082
          ],
          [
            -118.80752641178064,
            34.004828718799772
          ],
          [
            -118.80736449408786,
            34.004789801280346
          ],
          [
            -118.80720517379535,
            34.004744048800461
          ],
          [
            -118.80704886658502,
            34.004691580733834
          ],
          [
            -118.80689598027504,
            34.004632533975759
          ],
          [
            -118.8067469137558,
            34.004567062585771
          ],
          [
            -118.80660205594874,
            34.004495337385649
          ],
          [
            -118.80646178479165,
            34.004417545513526
          ],
          [
            -118.8063264662523,
            34.004333889935609
          ],
          [
            -118.8061964533736,
            34.004244588916428
          ],
          [
            -118.80607208535235,
            34.004149875449244
          ],
          [
            -118.80595368665435,
            34.004049996648028
          ],
          [
            -118.8058415661677,
            34.00394521310259
          ],
          [
            -118.80573601639708,
            34.003835798198544
          ],
          [
            -118.80563731270067,
            34.003722037403897
          ],
          [
            -118.80554571257183,
            34.003604227524114
          ],
          [
            -118.80546145496743,
            34.003482675927614
          ],
          [
            -118.80538475968476,
            34.003357699743709
          ],
          [
            -118.8053158267882,
            34.003229625035132
          ],
          [
            -118.80525483608757,
            34.003098785947181
          ],
          [
            -118.80520194666933,
            34.002965523835833
          ],
          [
            -118.80515729648184,
            34.002830186377103
          ],
          [
            -118.80512100197592,
            34.002693126659899
          ],
          [
            -118.80509315780128,
            34.002554702264668
          ],
          [
            -118.8050738365601,
            34.002415274330538
          ],
          [
            -118.80506308861794,
            34.002275206613056
          ],
          [
            -118.80506094197291,
            34.002134864535094
          ],
          [
            -118.80506740218294,
            34.001994614233553
          ],
          [
            -118.8050824523518,
            34.001854821604148
          ],
          [
            -118.80510605317356,
            34.001715851346759
          ],
          [
            -118.80513814303559,
            34.001578066014098
          ],
          [
            -118.8051786381798,
            34.001441825065868
          ],
          [
            -118.80522743292146,
            34.001307483931001
          ],
          [
            -118.80528439992533,
            34.00117539308053
          ],
          [
            -118.80534939053827,
            34.0010458971133
          ],
          [
            -118.80542223517742,
            34.000919333857134
          ],
          [
            -118.80550274377285,
            34.000796033487518
          ],
          [
            -118.8055907062638,
            34.000676317666418
          ],
          [
            -118.80568589314683,
            34.000560498703251
          ],
          [
            -118.8057880560749,
            34.000448878740194
          ],
          [
            -118.80589692850538,
            34.00034174896421
          ],
          [
            -118.8060122263955,
            34.000239388847469
          ],
          [
            -118.80613364894351,
            34.000142065418444
          ],
          [
            -118.80626087937353,
            34.000050032565447
          ],
          [
            -118.80639358576178,
            33.999963530374423
          ],
          [
            -118.8065314219027,
            33.999882784502823
          ],
          [
            -118.80667402821182,
            33.999808005590992
          ],
          [
            -118.80682103266393,
            33.999739388712882
          ],
          [
            -118.80697205176332,
            33.999677112867232
          ],
          [
            -118.80712669154416,
            33.999621340510757
          ],
          [
            -118.80728454859788,
            33.999572217134464
          ],
          [
            -118.80744521112554,
            33.999529870884217
          ],
          [
            -118.80760826001161,
            33.999494412226511
          ],
          [
            -118.80777326991718,
            33.999465933660446
          ],
          [
            -118.80793981038913,
            33.999444509476405
          ],
          [
            -118.80810744698287,
            33.99943019556239
          ],
          [
            -118.80827574239521,
            33.999423029258239
          ],
          [
            -118.80844425760482,
            33.999423029258239
          ],
          [
            -118.80861255301716,
            33.99943019556239
          ],
          [
            -118.8087801896109,
            33.999444509476405
          ],
          [
            -118.80894673008287,
            33.999465933660439
          ],
          [
            -118.80911173998842,
            33.999494412226511
          ],
          [
            -118.80927478887449,
            33.999529870884217
          ],
          [
            -118.80943545140215,
            33.999572217134464
          ],
          [
            -118.80959330845587,
            33.999621340510764
          ],
          [
            -118.8097479482367,
            33.999677112867232
          ],
          [
            -118.80989896733611,
            33.999739388712882
          ],
          [
            -118.81004597178821,
            33.999808005590992
          ],
          [
            -118.81018857809732,
            33.999882784502823
          ],
          [
            -118.81032641423825,
            33.999963530374423
          ],
          [
            -118.8104591206265,
            34.000050032565447
          ],
          [
            -118.81058635105651,
            34.000142065418444
          ],
          [
            -118.81070777360455,
            34.000239388847469
          ],
          [
            -118.81082307149465,
            34.00034174896421
          ],
          [
            -118.81093194392513,
            34.000448878740194
          ],
          [
            -118.81103410685321,
            34.000560498703251
          ],
          [
            -118.81112929373623,
            34.000676317666418
          ],
          [
            -118.81121725622718,
            34.000796033487518
          ],
          [
            -118.81129776482261,
            34.000919333857134
          ],
          [
            -118.81137060946176,
            34.0010458971133
          ],
          [
            -118.8114356000747,
            34.00117539308053
          ],
          [
            -118.81149256707859,
            34.001307483931001
          ],
          [
            -118.81154136182023,
            34.001441825065868
          ],
          [
            -118.81158185696444,
            34.001578066014105
          ],
          [
            -118.81161394682648,
            34.001715851346759
          ],
          [
            -118.81163754764823,
            34.001854821604141
          ],
          [
            -118.81165259781709,
            34.001994614233553
          ],
          [
            -118.81165905802712,
            34.002134864535094
          ],
          [
            -118.81165691138209,
            34.002275206613056
          ],
          [
            -118.81164616343993,
            34.002415274330545
          ],
          [
            -118.81162684219875,
            34.002554702264675
          ],
          [
            -118.81159899802411,
            34.002693126659892
          ],
          [
            -118.81156270351819,
            34.002830186377111
          ],
          [
            -118.81151805333072,
            34.002965523835833
          ],
          [
            -118.81146516391246,
            34.003098785947181
          ],
          [
            -118.81140417321183,
            34.003229625035132
          ],
          [
            -118.81133524031527,
            34.003357699743709
          ],
          [
            -118.8112585450326,
            34.003482675927614
          ],
          [
            -118.8111742874282,
            34.003604227524114
          ],
          [
            -118.81108268729936,
            34.003722037403904
          ],
          [
            -118.81098398360295,
            34.003835798198544
          ],
          [
            -118.81087843383234,
            34.00394521310259
          ],
          [
            -118.8107663133457,
            34.004049996648028
          ],
          [
            -118.81064791464769,
            34.004149875449244
          ],
          [
            -118.81052354662643,
            34.004244588916428
          ],
          [
            -118.81039353374773,
            34.004333889935609
          ],
          [
            -118.81025821520838,
            34.004417545513526
          ],
          [
            -118.81011794405129,
            34.004495337385649
          ],
          [
            -118.80997308624423,
            34.004567062585771
          ],
          [
            -118.80982401972499,
            34.004632533975759
          ],
          [
            -118.80967113341502,
            34.004691580733841
          ],
          [
            -118.80951482620468,
            34.004744048800461
          ],
          [
            -118.80935550591217,
            34.004789801280339
          ],
          [
            -118.80919358821939,
            34.004828718799772
          ],
          [
            -118.809029495587,
            34.004860699818082
          ],
          [
            -118.80886365615196,
            34.004885660892711
          ],
          [
            -118.80869650261018,
            34.004903536896983
          ],
          [
            -118.80852847108719,
            34.00491428119004
          ]
        ]
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Execute the request to determine if the point is in the polygon

Click Send to run the request.

In the response window, change the view to JSON. It should look something like this:

{
"relations": [
    {
        "geometry1Index": 0,
        "geometry2Index": 0
    }
]
}

Find the relations property array. Each item in the array is an object with geometry1Index and geometry2Index indicating the zero-based index of the features fulfilling the relationship in the geometry1 and geometry2 arrays.

Update the location of the point

In Body, change the following to input a point that is well outside of the buffer:

geometries1:

{
  "geometryType":"esriGeometryPoint",
  "geometries":[
    {
      "x":-120
      "y":44
    }
  ]
}

Click Send to run the request. Notice the return value indicates there is no relationship between the geometries.
```
{
"relations": []
}
```
Save the request.

In Postman click Code below the Send button. Select a programming language and use Postman to generate sample code for your application to run this request.

Congratulations, you're done!

You have successfully buffered a point and determined the relationship between a point and the buffer.

Challenge

Calculate areas and lengths

Try other methods on the Geometry Service like using areas and lengths to calcuate the length or area of a shape.