Profile

Title  Profile

Summary

Returns elevation profiles for the input line features.


Usage

  • The output from this service is polyline features with elevation values extracted along the input line features. The elevation values are stored as Z values in the shape geometry. The distance values are stored as M values in the shape geometry.

  • The maximum number of input lines is 1000 for the asynchronous profile service. For the synchronous profile service, the maximum number of input lines is 100. If more input lines are provided, the service will return an error and will not execute.

  • The returned line features are in the same coordinate system as the input line features. The Z and M values of the vertices are in meters.

  • If the DEM Source parameter is empty or not supplied, then the 90 meter resolution SRTM data will be used. If FINEST is specified, then the service will use the smallest resolution available at the input line feature area.

  • When the Sampling Distance parameter is empty or not supplied, a default sampling distance is calculated based on how many vertices are available on the input line feature. If the input line feature contains less than 50 vertices, the default sampling distance is the length of the input line feature divided by 49. If the input line feature contains more than 50 but less than 200 vertices, the default sampling distance is the length of the input line feature divided by 199. If the input line feature contains more than 200 vertices but less than or equal to 1024 vertices, then the input line feature will not be densified if the Sampling Distance parameter is empty or not specified.

  • The maximum number of elevation values returned from the service is 2000 times the number of input lines. The service will return an error message and will not execute if a request results in more than this maximum number of elevation values. If this happens, you should either specify a larger sampling distance, or input a line feature with less vertices, or both.

  • There are several elevation sources currently available which are at different spatial resolutions and cover different areas. Not all resolutions are available for all areas. The service will return an error message if the specified DEM resolution is not available at any of the input feature locations.

  • The output field Length Meters holds the planimetric length of the profile line calculated as a geodesic distance and is the correct length regardless of the coordinate system of the data.This length will be different from the shape_length attribute due to the effects of map projection distortion.


Syntax

Parameter Explanation
InputLineFeatures

The line features that will be profiled over the surface inputs.
ProfileIDField (Optional)

A unique identifier to tie profiles to their corresponding input line features.
DEMResolution (Optional)

The approximate spatial resolution (cell size) of the source elevation data used for the calculation. The default is 90m.

The resolution keyword is an approximation of the spatial resolution of the digital elevation model. Many elevation sources are distributed with units of arc seconds, the keyword is an approximation in meters for easier understanding.

  • FINEST — The finest units available for the extent are used.

  • 10m — the elevation source resolution is 1/3 arc second, or approximately 10 meters.

  • 24m — the elevation source is the Airbus WorldDEM4Ortho dataset at 24 meters resolution.

  • 30m — the elevation source resolution is 1 arc second, or approximately 30 meters.

  • 90m — the elevation source resolution is 3 arc second, or approximately 90 meters.

  • 1000m — the elevation source resolution is 30 arc seconds, or approximately 1000 meters.
MaximumSampleDistance (Optional)

The maximum sample distance along the line to sample elevation values.
MaximumSampleDistanceUnits (Optional)

The units for the Maximum Sample Distance parameter.

The default is meters.

  • Meters — The units are meters. This is the default.

  • Kilometers — The units are kilometers.

  • Feet — The units are feet.

  • Yards — The units are yards.

  • Miles — The units are miles.

Code Samples

Profile service example (stand-alone script)

This example consumes the asynchronous Profile service in python and save the profile result as a shapefile locally.


import time
import arcpy
arcpy.ImportToolbox("http://elevation.arcgis.com/arcgis/services;Tools/Elevation", "elev")
result = arcpy.Profile_elev(r"c:\data\line_1.shp", "#", "90m", "1500", "Meters")

while result.status < 4:
    print result.status
    time.sleep(0.2)
print "Execution Finished"

arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(result.getOutput(0), r'c:\output\profile1.shp')

Tags

Cross Section, Fence Diagram, Profile, Elevation, Z Value, M Value, DEM, Surface, NED, SRTM

Credits

Use limitations