Natural Neighbor (Spatial Analyst)

License Level:BasicStandardAdvanced

Summary

Interpolates a raster surface from points using a natural neighbor technique.

Learn more about how Natural Neighbor works

Usage

Syntax

NaturalNeighbor (in_point_features, z_field, {cell_size})
ParameterExplanationData Type
in_point_features

The input point features containing the z-values to be interpolated into a surface raster.

Feature Layer
z_field

The field that holds a height or magnitude value for each point.

This can be a numeric field or the Shape field if the input point features contain z-values.

Field
cell_size
(Optional)

The cell size at which the output raster will be created.

This will be the value in the environment if it is explicitly set; otherwise, it is the shorter of the width or the height of the extent of the input point features, in the input spatial reference, divided by 250.

Analysis Cell Size

Return Value

NameExplanationData Type
out_raster

The output interpolated surface raster.

Raster

Code Sample

NaturalNeighbor example 1 (Python window)

This example inputs a point shapefile and interpolates the output surface as a TIFF raster.

import arcpy
from arcpy import env  
from arcpy.sa import *
env.workspace = "C:/sapyexamples/data"
outNaturalNeighbor = NaturalNeighbor("ozone_pts.shp", "ozone", 2000)
outNaturalNeighbor.save("C:/sapyexamples/output/nnout.tif")
NaturalNeighbor example 2 (stand-alone script)

This example inputs a point shapefile and interpolates the output surface as a Grid raster.

# Name: NaturalNeighbor_Ex_02.py
# Description: Interpolate a series of point features onto a 
#    rectangular raster using Natural Neighbor interpolation.
# Requirements: Spatial Analyst Extension

# Import system modules
import arcpy
from arcpy import env
from arcpy.sa import *

# Set environment settings
env.workspace = "C:/sapyexamples/data"

# Set local variables
inPointFeatures = "ca_ozone_pts.shp"
zField = "ozone"
cellSize = 40000

# Check out the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension license
arcpy.CheckOutExtension("Spatial")

# Execute NaturalNeighbor
outNatNbr = NaturalNeighbor(inPointFeatures, zField, cellSize)

# Save the output 
outNatNbr.save("C:/sapyexamples/output/nnout02")

Environments

Related Topics

Licensing Information

ArcGIS for Desktop Basic: Requires Spatial Analyst or 3D Analyst
ArcGIS for Desktop Standard: Requires Spatial Analyst or 3D Analyst
ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced: Requires Spatial Analyst or 3D Analyst
11/8/2012