A quick tour of Landscape Modeler

The user interface for Landscape Modeler guides you through the process of building a model and running it, as well as drawing a reporting area and viewing reports based on the current extent.

Preparing to build a model

Before models are created, you can search for a specific location or landmark and change the basemap so it is better suited to the project you are planning. The Search text box in the upper right allows you to search for a location based on the city or location name. For example, you can search for Sacramento, CA, or Disneyland.

The Basemap widget provides a list of nine different basemaps you can choose. The basemaps include both imagery and topographic maps.

Building a model

The Landscape Modeler pane contains everything you need to create a model: a panel for selecting layers to include in the model as well as a panel for assigning weights to the layers and the classes within them. Additionally, you can do the following in this panel:

• Change the color ramp used to symbolize the results.
• Adjust the transparency of the layers and indicate whether they are visible.
• Adjust the transparency of the results and indicate whether or not they are visible in the map.

To begin, layers must be selected on the Select Layers panel, and percentages and class weights must be assigned to layers on the Design Model panel. The Select Layers panel allows you to indicate which layers are going to be included in the model, as well as preview them and view more information.

The Design Model panel is where you can assign percentages and weights to layers and the classes within them. All the percentages must have a sum of 100 before a model can be run.

Working with the results

After the model is run, the results are displayed on the map using the designated color ramp. However, to see more detailed information about the model results, you can add a feature service. The Overlay Features widget allows you to load a feature service and create extents for reporting your results.

As you pan around the map, you can view the way the suitability levels are higher or lower for a particular area. You can also sketch an area for reporting the model results. Clicking Load allows you to draw polygons using the templates available with the feature service. You can also add descriptive information once it is created.

After one or more polygons have been drawn in the map, you can view more detailed information for each one by clicking Charts. This opens the Breakdown by Area widget, which shows the percentage of each reporting area in the current extent. Clicking a part of the pie or bar chart displays more detailed information about a single category of results.