Abstract

Assessing the Degree of Potential Visual Impact of Vertical Structures
Track: Analysis
Authors: Brett Shaver

Successful visual impact assessments rely on effectively combining viewsheds and field observations from potential viewpoints. Traditional viewshed analysis only considers whether a structure will be visible or not and not the degree of visibility. This may mean that viewpoints are selected where only a small section of the top of the structure would actually be visible. In addition, many elevation models use bare earth elevations, ignoring the potential screening effect of vegetation and buildings.

This presentation will review an iterative ModelBuilder based approach developed for mapping the percentage of structure visible including sources of data used and the specific models that were created to automate the process. This will include consideration of how existing vegetation screens can be incorporated to correct the model output. Overall, this approach enables better selection of viewpoints and in some preliminary studies may remove the need for field verification entirely.