Create a buffer around collected points?

[GrantZ]

Hello,

I'm trying to figure out if Field Maps is able to work for a workflow my team is developing for a client. The client is looking to collect features out in the field, which Field Maps is clearly suited for. However, they also want to be able to generate buffers around the collected features, and I have not been able to find any documentation saying whether or not it is possible to do this within Field Maps. Can Field Maps itself generate buffers around collected features, or does this require a separate solution?

Thank you!

[WennyiDing]

We would require it to be view only - but as it's based on a field, if that field value were to change then the radius would need to change accordingly.

[Strahanjen]

Yes! We do still have this need. Here's one of our use cases: Biologists conducting a wetland vegetation survey need to stay within a circle with a set radius. Usually we create these circles in the office using desktop GIS. Sometimes the crew arrives in the field and determines that we need to shift the circle to a different spot. There is no option in Field Maps for moving a feature to a new location by selecting and dragging it. Thus, we were thinking that the user could create a new circle by buffering the center point. As a work around for the inability to draw/generate a circle of set radius while in the field, the crews use a GPS to make sure they stay within a specified distance from the shifted center point. They draw the new circle once they return to the office. 

[AshleyPeters]

We have the same need for surveys where a biologist needs to stay within a set radius.

[SarahSaint-Ruth]

@Strahanjen & @AshleyPeters for this need of working within a set radius - is this for guidance only so they know where they should be concentrating efforts or should they only be collecting data within radius (i.e. not allowed to create or edit data outside of a buffer)? Is this always a circle or could it be a buffer around a line or polygon feature to create an irregular buffered area?

[AshleyPeters]

@SarahSaint-Ruth For this most recent scenario, it is for guidance only. In speaking with the biologist, he figured a circle would be the easiest buffer, but a rectangle would be more representative of the project. He had asked for a circle that covered 18 acres. We've had projects in the past when running transects where it would be used both for guidance and knowing when something fell outside of the scope of the project.

[Strahanjen]

@SarahSaint-Ruth In our case, the biologists document plant species observations within the sampling area, which is most frequently a circle, but can also be an irregular polygon depending on the size and shape of the wetland. We use the shapes for guidance in the field, but also maintain a database of sampling areas that have been used at our monitoring sites, so that we can repeat sampling at the same location in the future. They record their tracks as they walk through the sampling area to ensure that they covered most of the area, but do not record points for species observations. I don't think we need a feature that limits data collection to a restricted area.  The main feature we need is to be able to draw circles of a set radius and move circles while in the field. We're able to draw polygons, but not circles. 

[BenBlowers2]

@SarahSaint-Ruth hello! Hope you're well. We would also love this ability. For example when we do badger surveys, it would be great to be able to plot a 30m circle buffer around a point. But also Great Crested Newt surveys would benefit from a 250m buffer around a pond polygon. And then water vole surveys would benefit from a 50m buffer around a ditch line. So all 3 vector types would be really helpful. Would also ideally be as features so that we can export and use in ArcGIS Pro as features.

[ZachEdwards_WDSGIS]

Could you not just create an Arcade expression to do this? I was just looking at this in another post: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-field-maps-ideas/allow-editing-on-fields-with-arcade-calculated....  I haven't used Arcade to do any proximity analysis aside from pulling attributes from a nearby layer into the active feature. I would like to test the code shown by @LindsayRaabe_FPCWA but I am not sure if this is happening in field maps or post-field in web map/feature layer. 

It looks like it is live. See here: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-online/analytics/use-arcade-geometry-functions/.

[LindsayRaabe_FPCWA]

Hi Zach. I don't think Arcade will do what the OP is wanting (creating a new polygon feature based on a buffer from the created point feature). Arcade can calculate a buffer for searching/intersecting purposes, but won't actually create a feature. Also, to confirm, it does run at the time of feature creation/editing in Field Maps - not post creation. Although, once the feature is created, the Arcade function will also run if you edit the feature in the WebMap/WebApp later on (essentially refreshing the initial calculation). 

[AlfredBaldenweck]

I wonder if a possible solution to this would be for AGOL/FieldMaps to set up group templates like we can in Pro.