Euclidean Distance vs Distance Accumulation

ArianneFord1

Hi,

I'm just raising a query about the Euclidean Distance tool and it's apparent planned removal from ArcGIS Pro. Currently the Euclidean Distance tool states that it is "...deprecated and will be removed in a future release. The Distance Accumulation tool provides enhanced functionality or performance."

The problem is that the Distance Accumulation tool does not actually do the same thing as Euclidean Distance, and over very large distances (continental-scale), the output rasters can vary by significant distances. For example, when I run both tools on an identical set of point locations in Australia, and have the appropriate environment settings set (i.e. mask, snap raster, extents, coordinate system, cell size), the output raster across Australia produces a maximum distance value that differs by over 1400 meters. This is significant given the data being analysed.

Are there plans to allow users to access the Euclidean Distance tool as a legacy tool or will it be gone entirely? In our case, it actually provides a more accurate output for our intended use case than the Distance Accumulation tool, regardless of its performance.

Would appreciate any feedback on this, or whether people have found a workaround given its apparent planned removal from ArcGIS Pro at some point in the future. The Distance Accumulation tool output isn't an acceptable alternative in this case.

Thanks!

 

DanPatterson

The documentation provides the principles but not the exact algorithms being used

Distance accumulation algorithm—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

Doing more with Euclidean Distance: Barriers and Paths

I would recommend raising this as an issue with Tech Support so that the Spatial Analyst team could be contacted could address this concern directly.

I agree that 'dumping' aka, 'deprecating' a particular function is not the best approach in all cases.

You have a documented example that would be of use and perhaps they can explain the differences.