Determining the observation point with largest viewshed

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11-16-2015 12:57 PM
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ToryElmore
New Contributor II

I am looking for the optimal location to place a radio repeater on a 25,000 acre preserve. Therefore, I need to determine a point with the largest viewshed of the property that is within a 1/4-mile buffer of a hiking trail or road.I have layers for the preserve boundaries, DEM, trails/roads, and a 1/4-mile buffer all laid out, but I am unsure how to proceed. I know there are viewshed and observer point tools, but I am not certain how to use them to my desired end.

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12 Replies
DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

are there any fire observation towers in the preserve?

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ToryElmore
New Contributor II

There are not, unfortunately.

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

I was just trying to think of a shortcut for you to potentially find sites with optimal view.  You could isolate areas of maximal elevation within your polygon buffer, however, that still doesn't guarantee that would be the optimal site. In any event, I doubt that a ground based point is going to be appropriate so perhaps you have other options (like a tower) that you are considering.  This could broaden the candidate sites since there is going to be more that elevation that needs to be considered.

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DarrenWiens2
MVP Honored Contributor

I would start by identifying ridgelines and sampling those pixels as potential observation points. You can get at ridgelines by finding pixels where flow accumulation = 0.

ChrisDonohue__GISP
MVP Alum

I'd start with the suggestion by Darren Wiens, and then consider using Modelbuilder (or Python) to iterate a Viewshed on each potential point (this may take several hours of run time), then compare the results.

Some thoughts/questions:

  • If you have not done a Viewshed before, I would do some trial runs to get a feel for it.
  • If you can employ a tower, you will need to know the height for the OFFSETA (attribute field)
  • It will probably be worthwhile to employ a RADIUS2 value (attribute field) to exclude distant cells outside your area of interest (this will help reduce processing time).  For the same reason, it may be useful to employ a AZIMUTH1 and AZIMUTH2 (attribute fields) if your observation point is to one side of your buffered area.
  • The Curvature and Refraction corrections could get interesting, as they are designed for light.  How does your radio signal propagate?  Is it line-of-sight or does it go further?
  • Does the Repeater receive signals from another radio source?  Would it be limited in placement by where it could receive the signals to repeat?
  • For best results a complete DEM will be needed.  I mention this as your example seems to be missing some portions of the DEM where there is a trail buffer.

ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)

Chris Donohue, GISP

ToryElmore
New Contributor II

Ok, these all seem like good suggestions. I need to try out the Viewshed tool a bit before I determine how to proceed. The DEM is clipped to our property boundaries, but I see now that the inholdings need to be represented regardless.

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

Iteractive visibility add-in http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=c6d74b84ab37454d9ae8cae6bbe4955f

Viewshed along a path (just add tower height to the extracted path elevation:

    http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=3528bd72847c439f88190a137a1d0e67

ToryElmore
New Contributor II

I decided to use Flow Direction & Accumulation to ID ridgelines. I converted those pixels to a point shapefile, then split the shapefile into individual points using Dan Patterson​'s Split Layer By Attributes tool. I used Model Builder to iterate Viewshed on each point. Need some time to let it process, but I am hopeful.

If you have suggestions on what I should do differently, I'd still like to hear them. Thank you Dan Patterson​, Darren Wiens​, and Chris Donohue, GISP

DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

please post your results...I would be interested in seeing the product.