Elevation profile

Elevation profiles allow you to visualize elevation change over a continuous distance using 3D line geometry. Visualizing elevation change with a profile graph allows for the elevation change to be displayed simultaneously for multiple 3D line features.

Create elevation profile

To create an elevation profile, complete the following steps:

1. Process a project with a DEM output.
2. On the Analysis tab, select the Profiles drop-down button and click Elevation Profiles .

   The Elevation Profile pane appears along with a blank profile window. The profile window remains blank until you add elevation profiles.

3. Click the Draw a new elevation profile button in the Elevation Profile pane.
4. Click the map to start drawing the elevation profile polyline.
5. Once you're finished drawing your profile, double-click to finalize the elevation profile polyline. After an elevation profile is added to the map, the profile window updates with the elevation data. Repeat steps 3 through 5 to overlay multiple elevation profiles in the profile window. Each profile you collect is listed in a table in the Elevation Profile pane and is given a default label such as Profile_1, Profile_2, and so on as they are collected. To assign your own labels, select the label for a profile, type a new string, and press the Tab key to register the string. Labels are stored as you type them, making them available in the pick list for reuse.

Note:

You can change the lines that are displayed in the chart window using the graph Selection and Extent filters, and you can switch an individual line between visible and hidden by clicking its corresponding dot in the graph's legend.

Axes

Elevation Profile graphs consist of continuous horizontal distance on the x-axis and elevation on the y-axis. The horizontal distance refers to the distance from the beginning of each 3D line when projected onto an imaginary horizontal plane, measured along the line. This applies whether or not all vertices are collinear in this horizontal projection.

The units of measure used for the horizontal and vertical axes are displayed in drop-down menus on the Axes tab in the Chart Properties  pane. When the profile graph is created, its unit of measure is set to that of the dataset, defaulting to meters if a unit is not found. After the profile graph is created, you can select different units from the drop-down menus, and the profile graph and the axes will be redrawn accordingly.

Note:

The Chart Properties pane is opened automatically behind the Elevation Profile pane when you create a profile graph. Switch between them by clicking their respective tabs at the bottom of the active pane.

Extent and clipping

If you turn on the Extent   filter , each of the lines that appear at least partially in the visible portion of the map will appear in the chart window. The features will be clipped by the extent of the visible portion in the map. This is only available in the 2D map, not the 3D map.

Legend

The legend displays one dot for each line in the profile graph, using the same color as the line. Next to each dot is the name of the profile.

Selection

You can select a line by clicking any of the following:

• The line in the map display
• The row in the line layer's attribute table
• The line in the profile graph
• The legend item in the profile graph
• The profile table in the Elevation Profile pane

Note:

The first click on the legend item will cause the line to disappear from the profile graph, but a second click on the same legend item will cause the line to reappear and be selected.

Change elevation profile appearance

Your visualizations should be attractive as well as informative. Whether you want a dark chart background because you prefer to work in a dark theme, or you want to customize the look of your charts before you share  them, you can format your chart's appearance through the Format  tab in the Chart Properties pane.

You can choose one of the predefined system themes or use custom formatting for the text and symbol elements in your chart. When you're satisfied with your chart's appearance, you can save the format as a custom theme that can be applied to other charts.

Color

The color of each line in the profile graph is the same by default. To change the color, click the color symbol to be changed in the Elevation Profile pane and choose a new color from the color picker.

Note:

Clicking the symbol in the Elevation Profile pane will also cause the profile graph to be selected in the profile window. Click some empty space in the profile window to deselect the graph and see your color change.

Format text elements

A chart's text elements can include the following:

• Chart title
• Axis titles
• Axis labels
• Legend title
• Legend text
• Description text

To format your chart's text elements, complete the following steps:

1. In the Chart Properties pane, on the Format tab, click the Text Elements tab .
2. Choose and format text elements individually or click All text to format all text elements at once.

Format symbol elements

A chart's symbol elements can include the following:

• Background color
• Axis lines
• Grid lines

To format your chart's symbol elements, complete the following steps:

1. In the Chart Properties pane, on the Format tab, click the Symbol Elements tab .
2. Choose Background from the symbol element list and change the color by picking a new color from the color picker drop-down menu.
3. Choose and format line elements individually or click All lines to format all lines at once.

Save a custom theme

To save chart format settings as a customer theme, complete the following steps:

1. Configure an existing chart's text and symbol elements as you would like them to be saved.
2. In the Chart Properties pane, on the Format tab, click the Chart themes tab , and then click Save as custom theme.

   The format settings are saved as a new custom theme in the theme gallery.

3. Give your custom theme a descriptive name by right-clicking the theme and choosing Rename. Chart themes can be permanently deleted from the theme gallery by right-clicking the theme and choosing Delete.

Note:

Custom themes are saved to %AppData%\Roaming\Esri\Drone2Map\CustomGallery. Deleting a theme from the custom gallery permanently deletes the file.

Apply a chart theme

To apply an Esri-provided system theme or a custom theme to your chart, complete the following steps:

1. In the Chart Properties  pane, on the Format  tab, click the Chart themes  tab , and then choose a theme icon from the theme gallery.

   The theme is applied to the active chart.

2. Optionally, make additional changes to any of the text or symbol elements and save them as a new custom theme.