Height Profile Tool

icon heightProfile The Height Profile Tool allows you to create cross-sections of the terrain and/or surface model along a drawn profile path. Click on the corresponding icon in the toolbar to start the height profile tool.

Create height profile

When the tool is started, the editing mode is active by default to directly start drawing the profile path (please recognize the change of the mouse cursor from the selection arrow to the editing pen icon edit). Clicking in the map starts the profile path or continues it afterwards. Its creation can be completed by double-clicking at the end point.

The coordinates of the set anchor points of the profile path are recorded in a measurement table in the main window. Individual vertices of an already completed profile path can be subsequently moved interactively on the map and thus repositioned after activating icon editVertices.

Changing the geometry deletes all previously calculated profiles from the profile diagram.

A new profile path is created using the NEW button.

icon workspace plus Adds the profile path to My Workspace so that it can be called up again from there at a later time, edited or removed from the app. This also makes it possible to create several profile paths in one map. Further information on this can be found at: Interaction with my workspace.

Calculate Profile

When the profile path is completed, the Calculate profile window opens automatically. Initial settings for the calculation of the height profile are required here:

Option Description

Resolution

Specifies the graph’s resolution (distance between the sample points of a measurement) in meters.

The higher the resolution (i.e. the lower the value), the longer the calculation time of the height profile. The selected value should not exceed the length of the profile path. The number of sample points in a measurement is limited to 1000. If the length of the profile path and the specified resolution result in a higher number of sampling points, the resolution is reduced accordingly to ensure that the full path is still displayed.

Classification type

Specifies the reference surface for the height profile. DTM (Digital Terrain Model) only includes the terrain surface in the calculation, while DSM (Digital Surface Model) also takes into account the objects in other 3D layers (e.g. buildings).

A digital surface model shows the maximum height of an object at the sample point. Overhangs can therefore not be taken into account in the height profile.

Click on Start calculation to generate the profile diagram.

Profile diagram and -interactions

The diagram window shows the calculated height profile. When created, the graph is optimally adapted to the available graphic area using an individual scale factor to simplify interpretation. If this is not desired, the scale factor below the diagram can be adjusted individually.

Various actions are available for interacting with the diagram:

..UI Description

icon plus

Zoom in

icon minus

Zoom out

icon apexcharts selected

Enlarge a section by clicking in the diagram and dragging a window while holding down the mouse button.

icon apexcharts pan

Move the visible diagram area to the left or right when the view is enlarged.

icon apexcharts reset

Reset the diagram to the default settings.

NN

Mean Sea Level Mode: Sets the starting point of the Y-axis (height in meters) to 0.

icon apexcharts custom measure

Enables a distance measurement (vertical and horizontal distance) between two points in the profile diagram. To start a new measurement, the first one must be deleted beforehand.

icon trashCan

Deletes a measurement from the diagram.

icon shareOrg

Enables the diagram to be exported as an SVG, PNG or CSV file.

Further actions can be found in the main window in the Calculated profiles area. The following actions are possible via the icon overflow menu next to the name of the created profile:

Action Description

Rename item

Change the display name of the generated height profile. Is transferred to the legend of the diagram.

Remove item

Deletes the calculated height profile from the results list.

Show graph

Adds the graph of the selected height profile to the diagram and opens the diagram window if previously closed.

Calculate additional profiles

Several height profiles with different settings can be displayed simultaneously in the profile diagram. This makes it possible to display or compare graphs of different settings, e.g. DTM and DSM profiles. An additional height profile is generated in the Calculated profiles section via icon plus. The process corresponds to the initial calculation, see Calculate profile.

After the calculation, only the last profile created is displayed in the diagram by default. To display several height profiles in the same diagram, you can select additional height profiles via the profile list and press the CTRL key at the same time; these are transferred directly to the open diagram. Alternatively, an additional graph can be added via icon overflow and Show graph.

If an individual diagram is required again, a simple click in the profile list without an additional key combination selects the corresponding individual graph for display.

Interaction with My Workspace

Each result added to My Workspace is listed there in the Height Profile section.

Using the icon overflow menu at the end of each entry, it is possible to

  • to edit the properties of the item. Opens the settings window of the tool.

  • rename the item.

  • remove the item from My Workspace.

Export height profile

Click on one or more (using CTRL key) elements in My Workspace to select them. The selected elements can then be exported as GeoJSON via the icon overflow menu of the Height profile section. This makes it possible to permanently save the analysis geometry and the settings made beyond the current session and also to pass them on to third parties.

This step only exports the analysis geometry and the set parameters, not the profile diagram. The Share tool is available in the diagram window for exporting the profile diagram.

Import height profile

Exported height profiles can be imported again at any time using the saved GeoJSON file, e.g. to continue working with this element when visiting the VC Map App again or to use shared results. To do this, open My workspace. The import function is available in the icon overflow menu of the Height profile section. After selecting a valid GeoJSON file that contains a height profile created with the VC Map, the entry is added to the section again. The height profile is now available for viewing or further editing.