ET Surface

ET Surface is a set of tools that enable the users to create surfaces and perform surface analysis.

ET Surface was initially developed as an extension for ArcGIS.

As from version 7.0 ET Surface is available as a standalone application and can be used by all GIS professionals no matter what is the GIS platform they are using.

The functionality of ET Surface 7.x is available in several ways:

• Stand-alone Windows application with user friendly interface and integrated User Guide.
• Seamlessly integrated in ArcGIS Desktop via
  • ArcGIS Desktop add-in  that starts ET Surface dialog from ArcMap
  • An ArcGIS toolbox that allows the functionality to be executed from ArcToolbox, included in a Model using the Model Builder or ArcPy scripts.
• Seamlessly integrated in ArcGIS Pro via
  • ArcGIS Pro add-in  that starts ET Surface dialog from within the ArcGIS Pro interface
  • An ArcGIS Pro Toolbox that allows the functionality to be executed from ArcToolbox, included in a Model using the Model Builder or ArcPy scripts.
• All the functions can be executed using Python (no third party software required).
• The tools can be integrated in custom .NET applications (no third party software required).
• The functionality can be executed directly from the DOS Command Prompt.

ET Surface is a native 64-bit application which allows handling very large datasets at impressive speed. The functionality however can be executed from any 32-bit application (example - ArcMap).

ET Surface Toolbar for ArcGIS Desktop provides sone additional tools for users of ArcGIS Desktop. This includes the Profile Extractor, Line of Sight tools, Raster Cell Inspector and others. For details please see the ETS Toolbar page.

Main Features:

• TIN Processing
  • Create TIN from points, polylines or polygons.
  • Modify TIN by adding data from points, polylines or polygons.
  • Break lines (Hard and Soft) are supported for TIN.
  • Extract TIN nodes, edges, peaks and sinks.
  • Convert TIN to Raster DEM.
  • Import and export TIN from/to LandXML format.
• TIN Surface Analysis - Slope, Aspect, Visibility, Volume, Cut/Fill, Interpolate Contours.
• Raster creation
  • Create Raster from features - points, polylines or polygons.
  • Create Raster from contours.
  • Create Raster through Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation (IDW) and Kernel Demsity.
  • Create Constant raster, Random raster and Raster plane.
• Raster Surface Analysis - Slope, Aspect, Hillshade, Viewshed, Volume, Cut/Fill, Interpolate Contours, Curvature.
• Raster Distance Analysis - Euclidean Distance, Direction and Allocation, Weighted Voronoi (Thiessen) allocation, Cost Distance and Allocation, Cost Path.
• Raster Processing - Clip, Erase, Smooth, Clean Boundaries, Resample, Reclassify, Extract raster values.
• Raster Calculator - enables the user to perform complex mathematical calculation on rasters.
• Raster Statistics - Zonal, Focal, Point, Extract Zonal min/max points.
• Miscellaneous - Offset Z valus, Multiply Z values, Split PolylineZ based on slope, Clean Contour gaps.
• Profile Extractor
  • Create profile of multiple surfaces (TIN, Raster)
  • Draw profiles for:
    • User drawn cross-section line
    • Selected polyline or polygon graphic
    • Selected polyline or polygon feature
  • Interactive Profile Window
    • Zoom
    • Pan
    • Identify
    • Label data points
  • Animate profile for cross-sections moving along route
  • Draw profile directly on the data frame
  • Draw profile on the layout preserving the scale of the data frame
  • Export profile to a text file, an image, point or polyline feature class
• Line of Sight (LOS) tool
  • Draw on View and in Profile Window
  • Set offset for the Observer and Target
  • Apply Earth curvature corrections
  • Apply light refraction corrections
  • Apply radio wave corrections 
  • Animate rotation of the Observer

• Digitize 3D features or graphics with elevation extracted from TIN, Raster, PolygonZ TIN

• ET TerrainViewer - a stand alone application allows 3D visualization of surfaces (PolygonZs, TINs and Rasters), features stored in shapefiles. It also allows draping aerial photography over a surface.