3D buffer analysis

A 3D buffer is a sphere built around a 3D point with a specified radius, or a cylinder built around 3D line data with a specified radius. Currently, this feature only supports buffer generation for 3D point and 3D line datasets. Depending on the data type, the parameter settings used to generate the buffer are different. For line data generation buffer, you can choose round head buffer or flat head buffer; for point data, you can only generate round head buffer. For example, it is applied to the hazard range analysis of explosives, the coverage of network signals, and the radiation range of radiation sources. The current feature supports use in spherical scenes.

Function entry: in the "3D spatial analysis" tab-"buffer analysis" item;

Operation steps and parameter description

  1. SelectDataset: Select the dataset for which you want to generate the buffer. The system automatically filters the datasets under the selected data source and displays only the 3D point and line datasets under that data source. 
  2. Set the buffer type:
    1. Round head buffer: Draw parallel lines on both sides of the line according to the buffer distance, and draw semicircles at the end of the line with the buffer distance as the radius, connecting to generate buffer areas. The default buffer type is round head buffer. 
    2. Flat head buffer: When creating a buffer, a rectangular buffer area is created with the line segment between adjacent nodes of line data as one rectangular edge and the left radius or right radius as the other edge of the rectangle. 
  3. Buffer radius: Enter a value to set the buffer distance.
  4. Number of semicircular segments: Sets the smoothness of the resulting buffer boundary. The higher the number, the more arcs/segments are evenly divided and the smoother the buffer boundary.
  5. Buffer Color: Used to set the color of the generated buffer.

After setting the above parameters, click the "Analysis" button to execute the operation of generating buffer. Buffer generation for entire datasets is now supported, with buffer analysis for individual objects added later. 

The results of the 3D buffer analysis are shown in the figure below.