Generate Range Rings (Defense Tools)

Summary

Creates a set of concentric circles from a point, given a number of rings and distance between rings or a minimum and maximum distance from center.

Usage

The tool provides two methods for generating range rings: interval or minimum and maximum distance:
- To generate range rings from an interval, specify the number of rings to create. The first ring will be a distance from the center point that you specify and each subsequent ring will be created that distance from the previous ring.
- To generate range rings from a minimum and maximum distance, specify two values, a minimum and maximum value. One ring will be created for each value at the distance specified.

Label	Explanation	Data type
Input Features (Center Points)	The point feature set that identifies the center of the range ring. The input must have at least one point.	Feature Set
Output Feature Class (Rings)	The feature class containing the output ring features.	Feature Class
Range Ring Type	Specifies the method to create the range rings. Interval—Range rings will be generated based on the number of rings and distance between rings. This the default. Minimum and maximum—Range rings will be generated based on a minimum and maximum distance.	String
Output Feature Class (Radials) (Optional)	The feature class containing the output radial features.	Feature Class
Number of Radials (Optional)	The number of radials to generate.	Long
Distance Units (Optional)	Specifies the linear unit of measurement for the Interval Between Rings parameter or the Minimum Range and Maximum Range parameters. Meters—The unit will be meters. This is the default. Kilometers—The unit will be kilometers. Miles—The unit will be miles. Nautical miles—The unit will be nautical miles. Feet—The unit will be feet. US survey feet—The unit will be U.S. survey feet.	String
Number of Rings (Optional)	The number of rings to generate.	Long
Interval Between Rings (Optional)	The distance between each ring.	Double
Minimum Range (Optional)	The distance from the center to the nearest ring.	Double
Maximum Range (Optional)	The distance from the center to the farthest ring.	Double

arcpy.defense.GenerateRangeRings(in_features, out_feature_class_rings, range_rings_type, {out_feature_class_radials}, {number_of_radials}, {distance_units}, {number_of_rings}, {interval_between_rings}, {minimum_range}, {maximum_range})

Name	Explanation	Data type
in_features	The point feature set that identifies the center of the range ring. The input must have at least one point.	Feature Set
out_feature_class_rings	The feature class containing the output ring features.	Feature Class
range_rings_type	Specifies the method to create the range rings. `INTERVAL`—Range rings will be generated based on the number of rings and distance between rings. This the default. `MIN_MAX`—Range rings will be generated based on a minimum and maximum distance.	String
out_feature_class_radials (Optional)	The feature class containing the output radial features.	Feature Class
number_of_radials (Optional)	The number of radials to generate.	Long
distance_units (Optional)	Specifies the linear unit of measurement for the `interval_between_rings` parameter or the `minimum_range` and `maximum_range` parameters. `METERS`—The unit will be meters. This is the default. `KILOMETERS`—The unit will be kilometers. `MILES`—The unit will be miles. `NAUTICAL_MILES`—The unit will be nautical miles. `FEET`—The unit will be feet. `US_SURVEY_FEET`—The unit will be U.S. survey feet.	String
number_of_rings (Optional)	The number of rings to generate.	Long
interval_between_rings (Optional)	The distance between each ring.	Double
minimum_range (Optional)	The distance from the center to the nearest ring.	Double
maximum_range (Optional)	The distance from the center to the farthest ring.	Double

Code sample

GenerateRangeRings example 1 (Python window)

The following Python window script demonstrates how to use the GenerateRangeRings function.

import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:/Data.gdb"
arcpy.defense.GenerateRangeRings("Ring_Centers", "Output_Range_Rings",
                                 "INTERVAL",
                                 "Output_Radials",
                                 3,
                                 "KILOMETERS",
                                 5, 5, 5, 25)

GenerateRangeRings example 2 (stand-alone script)

The following example uses the GenerateRangeRings function in a sample workflow script.

# Description: Generate range rings around active airports

# Import system modules
import arcpy

# Set environment settings
arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:/Data.gdb"
arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True

# Select points from airports from input
airports = "Airports"
active = "Active_Airports"
whereClause = "Active = 'Yes'"
arcpy.analysis.Select(airports, active, whereClause)

# Generate Range Rings around selected airports
outputRings = "Rings"
outputRadials = "Radials"
ringType = "MIN_MAX"
distType = "KILOMETERS"
arcpy.defense.GenerateRangeRings(active,
                                 outputRings,
                                 ringType,
                                 outputRadials,
                                 4,
                                 distType,
                                 5, 100, 200, 4000)

Environments

Output Coordinate System, Current Workspace, Scratch Workspace

Licensing information