Get started with Elevation Analysis services
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The Elevation Analysis services provide a group of capabilities for performing analytical operations against data hosted and managed by Esri. This allows you to perform certain common analytical tasks quickly and easily, without having to collect, maintain, or update an authoritative set of base data. That's done for you.
Access the services through REST
ArcGIS is a platform for geographic analysis and mapping. The ArcGIS platform is available in a wide variety of environments and devices because it exposes much of its functionality through web services. To develop with these web services, you should be familiar with the ArcGIS REST API.
Available services
There are two general categories of Elevation Analysis services available for performing analysis. The first is Elevation analysis tasks, which operate on authoritative digital elevation models to derive surface information, such as calculating visible areas and profiles. The other category is Hydrology analysis tasks, which use elevation data and ancillary information to model the movement of water across the landscape for delineating watersheds and tracing downstream flow path.
Elevation analysis tasks
The Elevation tasks provide analysis on authoritative DEM data hosted and managed by Esri. These services are available at different spatial extents and resolutions. See the Source data section for more information.
- Profile
The Profile task is used to create profiles along input lines from which a profile graph can be created.
- Summarize Elevation
The Summarize Elevation task calculates summary statistics for features you provide based on ArcGIS Online Elevation data. It accepts point, line, or polygon input and returns statistics for the elevation, slope, and aspect of the features.
- Viewshed
The Viewshed task is used to identify visible areas based on observer locations you provide as well as ArcGIS Online Elevation data.
Hydrology analysis tasks
The Hydrology tasks provide analysis based on authoritative elevation and hydrologic information optimized by Esri to improve results and service performance. These services are available at different spatial extents and resolutions. See the Source data section for more information.
- Trace Downstream
The Trace Downstream task is used to determine the flow path in a downstream direction from the identified location.
- Watershed
The Watershed task is used to identify catchment areas based on a particular location you provide and ArcGIS Online Elevation data.
ElevationSync task
The Profile task here is functionally equivalent to the one above, with the difference being that there is no charge or licensing restrictions to use it.
- Profile
The Profile task is used to create profiles along input lines from which a profile graph can be created.
Credit usage
The services are available to all ArcGIS Online users with organizational accounts.
Using the following services consumes credits:
- Hydrology analysis: Trace Downstream and Watershed
- Elevation analysis: Profile, Summarize Elevation, and Viewshed
The charge is 1 credit per 1000 features. For example, if you input 1000 points or polygons, you will be charged 1 credit. For more information, see the Service Credits Overview.
The following service is available for no charge:
- ElevationSync analysis: Profile
If you have issues or are experiencing problems with any of the functionality, please contact Esri Technical Support or visit the
ArcGIS Online forum.