Profile Analysis

Feature Description

A profile represents elevation variations along a specified line (cross-section). Analyzing terrain profiles helps evaluate geological features, hydrological characteristics, and construction feasibility. It supports road construction difficulty assessment, railway route feasibility analysis, and earthwork quantity calculations by examining landform morphology, absolute/relative elevations, geological structures, slope characteristics, and erosion factors.

The Profile Analysis feature in SuperMap applications generates cross-sectional views and related information along specified routes on raster surfaces. The presentation format varies depending on feature entry methods.

Sampling Points

While raster surfaces are continuous, it's impractical to display every position along a route. Instead, characteristic points called sampling points are selected where the given line intersects raster cell centerlines. These points provide elevation and coordinate data for profile visualization.

Schematic Diagram of Profile Information

The following illustration shows a 2D coordinate system profile line, visually representing elevation fluctuations along the specified route.

Feature Entry 1

  • Spatial Analysis Tab->Raster Analysis group->Surface Analysis->Terrain Calculation->Profile Analysis

Key Parameters

  • Customize Y-axis Extreme Value: When checked, allows manual setting of Y-axis maximum/minimum values (axes labels display at 200-unit intervals; custom values not divisible by 200 won't show on axis marks).
  • Output Sample Point: Saves sampling points as point datasets containing longitude/latitude coordinates, elevation values, and Euclidean distances from route start points.
  • Export as Image: Exports profile analysis results as image files.
  • Raster Layer: Displays all available raster layers from Layer Manager for selection.
  • Settings: Line configuration offers "draw line" for interactive sketching or "select line" for choosing existing line datasets.
  • The unit length of the coordinate axis is the same: When checked, sets identical maximum/minimum values for both X and Y axes.
  • Display the selected sampling point on the map: When checked, shows real-time cursor position along the route on the map during profile graph interaction.

Feature Entry 2

  • Toolbox->Raster Analysis->Surface Analysis->Terrain Calculation->Profile Analysis

Key Parameters

  • Source Dataset: Selects target raster datasource and dataset for analysis.
  • Line: Specifies line datasource and dataset. Multiple line objects generate separate CAD datasets.
  • Result Data: Configures output CAD dataset name and destination datasource.
  • Create the Sampling Points Dataset: When checked, generates companion point dataset with same name as CAD output.
  • The unit length of the coordinate axis is the same: When checked, equalizes X/Y axis scale ranges.
Figure: Feature Entry 1 - Profile Map (Left) ; Feature Entry 2 - CAD Dataset (Right)