Question: I have a series of polylines with nodes at random points along the line. Is there a way to calculate the chainage distance at each node from the start of the line? Even if a chainage can’t be calculated, is it possible to calculate the distance of each point from the start of the line?
Thanks!
Answer: For this you can use linear referencing. First convert the polylines to routes using the Create Routes tool, and then use the Locate Features Along Routes tool to write the route and measure information to a new event table.
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About the author
Dr. Aileen Buckley has been making maps since she was an undergraduate student. She has a Bachelors in Geography and Spanish from Valparaiso University, a Masters in Geography from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Geography from Oregon State University. She is a senior product engineer on the Living Atlas team, and her work focuses on determining and sharing best practices for mapping and analysis with modern GIS. She publishes and presents world-wide on many aspects of mapping and GIS. She is a co-author of Map Use: Reading, Analysis, Interpretation, and she is a co-editor for the Atlas of Oregon. Aileen is a former president of CaGIS (the U.S. cartographic association) and is actively involved with the International Cartographic Association in which she is the lead delegate for the United States.
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