Line of Sight - MapInfo_Pro_Advanced - 2023

MapInfo Pro Advanced Help

Product type
Software
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Product family
MapInfo
Product
MapInfo > MapInfo Pro
Version
2023
Language
English
Product name
MapInfo Pro Advanced
Title
MapInfo Pro Advanced Help
First publish date
2016
Last updated
2023-09-20
Published on
2023-09-20T15:00:50.875000

The Line of Sight tool is used to calculate and investigate the intervisibility. Intervisibility is defined as the ability to see in a direct line of sight from one position on the earth’s surface to another, considering all the intervening terrain of the earth's surface.

The Line of Sight enables you to either select a line of sight path from an existing line object in a Map window or draw the line of sight path directly in the Map window. If you draw a line from source to destination on the raster, the line passes through various raster cells. Points are created where the line intersects the raster cells. The following information is collected from the points.
  • Distance - Distance form the source point.
  • Value - The value of raster's cell at the given point.
  • Visible - Whether the point is visible or not from the source point.
  • Offset Required - The value denotes the required offset to make the point visible. If the value is positive, you need to raise the height. If the value is negative, you need to lower the height to make the point visible.
  • XCoord - The X coordinate of the point.
  • YCoord - The Y coordinate of the point.

The line of sight profile is divided into green and red line segments. The red and green line segments represent the invisible and visible points respectively from the source. You can generate line of sight profiles for multiple lines.

If you draw or select multiple lines on the map, you can see a corresponding number of profiles created on the chart. You can use the lock button on the profile, to lock editing of the selected profile.

A number of sample points are created between the source and destination along the line of sight profile. You can control these points using the Specify Sample Count checkbox. It helps you in the ease of analysis.

What is Offset ?

If a point is not visible from the source location then the MapInfo Pro Advanced suggests by what amount the height of the sample point should be adjusted (raised or lowered) to make the point visible from source. This value is called Offset value.