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Polygon Volume (3D Analyst Tools)

Summary

Calculates the volume and surface area between a polygon of a constant height and a surface.

Usage

  • First, each polygon will intersect the surface. Then volume and surface calculations will be made for all surface triangles and portions of triangles that fall within the intersected polygon. If calculations based on an extent are suitable for your needs, you can use the Surface Volume tool for faster results.

  • The surface area represents the portions of the surface that are above or below the height of the polygon features. The volume represents the region between the surface and the space above or below the height of the polygon feature. When calculations are made above the plane, the volume represents the region between the plane and the underside of the surface. When calculations are made below the plane, the volume represents the region between the plane and the topside of the surface.

  • The input surface is evaluated as a triangulated irregular network (TIN). A LAS dataset is processed as a surface by constructing a TIN from the LAS dataset. Since LAS datasets typically contain a large amount of points, the construction of the intermediate surface that is used for analysis can take a significant amount of time for processing when the input polygon covers a large number of points. In this case, you can export a thinned TIN from the LAS dataset using the LAS Dataset To TIN tool.

Parameters

Label Explanation Data type

Input Surface

The TIN, terrain, or LAS dataset surface that will be processed.

LAS Dataset Layer; Terrain Layer; TIN Layer

Input Polygons

The polygon features that define the region being processed.

Feature Layer

Height Field

The field in the polygon's attribute table that defines the height of the reference plane that will be used in determining volumetric calculations.

String

Reference Plane

(Optional)

Specifies the direction from the reference plane that volume and surface area will be calculated.

  • Calculate above the plane—Volume and surface area will be calculated above the reference plane height of the polygons.

  • Calculate below the plane—Volume and surface area will be calculated below the reference plane height of the polygons. This is the default.

  • Calculate above and below the plane—Volume and surface area will be calculated above and below the reference plane height of the polygons.

String

Volume Field

(Optional)

The name of the field that will contain volumetric calculations. The default is Volume.

String

Surface Area Field

(Optional)

The name of the field that will contain the surface area calculations. The default is SArea.

String

Pyramid Level Resolution

(Optional)

The z-tolerance or window-size resolution of the terrain pyramid level that will be used. The default is 0, or full resolution.

Double

Volume Field

(Optional)

The name of the field that will contain the volume calculated above the polygon height. The default is Above_Vol.

String

Volume Field

(Optional)

The name of the field that will contain the volume calculated below the polygon height. The default is Below_Vol.

String

Surface Area Above Field

(Optional)

The name of the field that will contain the surface area calculated above the polygon height. The default is Above_SA.

String

Surface Area Below Field

(Optional)

The name of the field that will contain the surface area calculated below the polygon height. The default is Below_SA.

String

Derived output

Label Explanation Data type

Output Feature Class

The output features that will be updated.

Feature Layer

Environments

Current Workspace, Geographic Transformations, Extent, Minimize memory use during analysis on terrains

Licensing information

  • Basic: Requires 3D Analyst
  • Standard: Requires 3D Analyst
  • Advanced: Requires 3D Analyst