Compare Areas (Intelligence)

Summary

Compares movement point tracks across multiple known areas of interest.

Usage

• The tool is used to find the number of unique point track identities operating in known areas. To compare areas across location and time, time must be enabled on the values (layers) of both the Input Point Features and Input Area Features parameters.

  Learn more about setting time properties on data

• If the Relationship parameter is set to Location and Time, the ability to specify certain time relationships is supported by the Time Relationship parameter. You can use the Near, Near before, or Near after option to filter features by a value specified for the Time Difference parameter.

• The Output Feature Class parameter will return an area feature class with the input geometries and the unique identifiers from the Point Features Name Field and Area Features Name Field parameters.

• If the Include Time Statistics parameter is checked, the following fields will be added to the Output Feature Class parameter value:

  • enter_time—The first observed time instance of the specified track in the given area feature
  • exit_time—The last observed time instance of the specified track in the given area feature
  • duration—The time in seconds from the first observed time until the last observed time of the specified track in the given area feature

Parameters

Dialog

Label	Explanation	Data Type
Input Point Features	The point features representing the movement track points. The layer can be time enabled.	Feature Layer
Input Area Features	The area features representing the areas of interest that will be used to identify unique movement track point identifiers. The layer can be time enabled.	Feature Layer
Output Feature Class	The output area feature class. The output will contain a copy of the Input Area Features geometry and the unique identifiers from the Area Features Name Field and Point Features Name Field parameters. If both the Input Point Features and Input Area Features parameter values are time enabled and Relationship is set to Location and Time, only the features matching the geometry and the time span will be returned.	Feature Layer
Point Features Name Field	The field containing the unique identifiers for the movement track points. The field can be either a number or a string.	Field
Area Features Name Field	The field containing the unique identifiers for the areas of interest. The field can be either a number or a string.	Field
Relationship	Specifies the relationship between the inputs. Location Only— Points and area features will be evaluated based on spatial co-occurrence. Location and Time— Points and area features will be evaluated based on spatial and temporal co-occurrence.	String
Time Difference (Optional)	The time allowed between the Input Point Features and Input Area Features parameter values before a spatial relationship is considered invalid. This parameter is active when the Relationship parameter is set to Location and Time and both inputs are time enabled.	Time Unit
Time Relationship (Optional)	Specifies the time relationship between the Input Point Features and Input Area Features parameter values. This parameter is active when the Relationship parameter is set to Location and Time and both inputs are time enabled. If the Near before or Near after option is specified, only features in the Input Point Features parameter value that are within the specified time window will be evaluated for inclusion in the Output Feature Class parameter value. Near— When a point feature time is within a specified range of time from the area feature time, the point feature time is near the area feature time. Near before—When a point feature time is before the area feature time but within a specified range of time from the join time, the point feature time is near before the area feature time. Near after—When a point feature time is after the area feature time but within a specified range of time from the join time, the point feature time is near after the area feature time. Near— When a point feature time is within a specified range of time from the area feature time, the point feature time is near the area feature time. Near before—When a point feature time is before the area feature time but within a specified range of time from the join time, the point feature time is near before the area feature time. Near after—When a point feature time is after the area feature time but within a specified range of time from the join time, the point feature time is near after the area feature time.	String
Include Time Statistics (Optional)	Specifies whether time statistics fields will be added. Include time statistics—Time statistics fields will be added to the output. Exclude time statistics—Time statistics fields will not be added to the output.	Boolean

Python

arcpy.intelligence.CompareAreas(in_point_features, in_area_features, out_featureclass, point_id_field, area_id_field, relationship, {time_difference}, {time_relationship}, {include_time_statistics})

Name	Explanation	Data Type
in_point_features	The point features representing the movement track points. The layer can be time enabled.	Feature Layer
in_area_features	The area features representing the areas of interest that will be used to identify unique movement track point identifiers. The layer can be time enabled.	Feature Layer
out_featureclass	The output area feature class. The output will contain a copy of the in_area_features geometry and the unique identifiers from the area_id_field and point_id_field parameters. If both the in_point_features and in_area_features parameter values are time enabled and relationship is set to LOCATION_TIME, only the features matching the geometry and the time span will be returned.	Feature Layer
point_id_field	The field containing the unique identifiers for the movement track points. The field can be either a number or a string.	Field
area_id_field	The field containing the unique identifiers for the areas of interest. The field can be either a number or a string.	Field
relationship	Specifies the relationship between the inputs. LOCATION_ONLY— Points and area features will be evaluated based on spatial co-occurrence. LOCATION_TIME— Points and area features will be evaluated based on spatial and temporal co-occurrence.	String
time_difference (Optional)	The time allowed between the in_point_features and in_area_features parameter values before a spatial relationship is considered invalid. This parameter is enabled when the relationship parameter is set to LOCATION_TIME and both inputs are time enabled.	Time Unit
time_relationship (Optional)	Specifies the time relationship between the in_point_features and in_area_features parameter values. This parameter is only enabled when the relationship parameter is set to LOCATION_TIME and both inputs are time enabled. If the NEAR_BEFORE or NEAR_AFTER option is specified, only features in the in_point_features parameter value that are within the specified time window will be evaluated for inclusion in the out_featureclass parameter value. NEAR— When a point feature time is within a specified range of time from the area feature time, the point feature time is near the area feature time. NEAR_BEFORE—When a point feature time is before the area feature time but within a specified range of time from the join time, the point feature time is near before the area feature time. NEAR_AFTER—When a point feature time is after the area feature time but within a specified range of time from the join time, the point feature time is near after the area feature time.	String
include_time_statistics (Optional)	Specifies whether time statistics fields will be added. TIME_STATISTICS—Time statistics fields will be added to the output. NO_TIME_STATISTICS—Time statistics fields will not be added to the output.	Boolean

Code sample

CompareAreas example (stand-alone script)

The following Python script demonstrates how to use the CompareAreas function in a stand-alone script.

# Name: CompareAreas.py
# Description: Identify unique movement point track identifiers in known areas of interest. 

# Import system modules 
import arcpy 

arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/data/Tracks.gdb"

# Set local variables 
point_features = "Movement_Points"
area_features = "Areas_Of_Interest"
out_features = "Compare_Areas"
point_id_field = "Created_By"
area_id_field = "Name"
relationship = "LOCATION_TIME"
time_difference = "2 Hours"

# Run tool
arcpy.intelligence.CompareAreas(point_features,
                                area_features,
                                out_features,
                                point_id_field,
                                area_id_field,
                                relationship,
                                time_difference)

Environments

Output Coordinate System, Extent, Current Workspace, Parallel Processing Factor