{"id":583224,"date":"2026-04-08T23:34:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T23:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=583224"},"modified":"2026-04-08T23:38:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T23:38:48","slug":"business-case-gis-obstacle-analysis","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/business-case-gis-obstacle-analysis","title":{"rendered":"The Business Cases for GIS\u2011Based Obstacle Analysis\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently at the S\u00e3o Paulo\/Guarulhos International Airport, a fully loaded Delta Airlines Airbus A-330 bound for Atlanta Hartfield International experienced a catastrophic engine failure immediatley after takeoff. Maintaining control, the pilots did their job. Shutting down the left engine that was on fire, they continued a slow climb, and with 286 souls onboard, returned to the field, landing safely 10 minutes later. Very rare, this scenario is why all certified commerical twin engine aircraft are guaranteed to fly on one engine; but climb performace is reduced.  Airports guarantee air carriers, passengers, and the authority governing airspace that if this happens; those stricken aircraft will not encounter obstructions during engine-out emergency departures.  This underscores the importance of conducting accurate obstacle analysis and safeguarding airspace.<\/p>\n\n

In my role at Esri, I work with airports across the nation that struggle with obstacle analysis. Eliminating obstruction risk is critical for airspace around airports as air traffic grows, regulations evolve, and urban development around airports intensify. Unfortunately, I have come across a lot of airport professionals that aren\u2019t aware of the capabilities of the ArcGIS Aviation Airports extension<\/a>. I know that if those airports leveraged this set of tools, they would be able to analyze more data, more frequently, and with greater confidence. The airport extension is the industry standard and best practice for maintaining protected airspace and meeting safety and regulatory demands. Intelligent airports are turning to GIS to modernize how they create, analyze, and share protected airspace surfaces; unlocking faster workflows, gaining clearer insights, and stronger regulatory confidence. In this blog, I preset several business cases outlining why airports should use GIS and the Airports extension for obstacle analysis.<\/p>\n\n

Case 1 – The Growing Need for Speed and Accuracy<\/h2>\n\n

Airport planners, engineers, and GIS teams are under constant pressure to respond quickly to change. Aircraft schedules shift, approach procedures are updated, and new development proposals for cellular towers, cranes, and buildings can emerge at any time. Each of these changes has implications for protected airspace and must be evaluated accurately and promptly. Traditional workflows often struggle to keep pace. Creating approach surfaces or conducting obstacle analysis manually can take days or longer, introducing delays and increasing the risk of errors. By contrast, GIS\u2011based workflows allow airports to ingest authoritative data, generate surfaces, and perform analysis in a fraction of the time, often within a single day. Equally important, GIS makes it easier to visualize and communicate results. Instead of static paper drawings, stakeholders can work from interactive maps, 3D views, tables, and reports that clearly show where issues exist and why they matter.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"
Obstacle ID Surfaces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Case 2 – Built\u2011In Compliance, Not After\u2011the\u2011Fact Checking<\/h2>\n\n

Speed alone isn\u2019t enough. Airport surface and obstacle analysis must align with strict regulatory requirements, including FAA standards such as Part 77 and other Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS). One of the most significant advantages of modern GIS\u2011based airport tools is that compliance is built into the workflow. Rather than manually constructing surfaces and hoping they meet regulatory criteria, users can generate protected surfaces that are designed to follow established standards from the start. This dramatically reduces rework and gives planners and engineers greater confidence that their analyses will stand up to regulatory review.<\/p>\n\n

Case 3 – Creating and Managing Surfaces More Efficiently<\/h2>\n\n

Historically, generating Part 77 or similar surfaces was a painstaking process especially when done repeatedly across multiple runways or airports. With the ArcGIS for Airports Extension tools, these surfaces can now be created in seconds, depending on extent and complexity. Efficiency becomes increasingly important as the number of runways or airports in the analysis rises. State DOTs, consultants, and airport authorities managing multiple facilities can standardize workflows, reduce manual errors, and ensure consistency across projects. In practice, this has allowed teams to move from ad\u2011hoc analysis toward repeatable, production\u2011ready workflows.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"
Create and Visualize Multiple Surfaces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Case 4 – Smarter Data Models with Aviation\u2011Ready Schemas<\/h2>\n\n

Beyond surface creation, modern airport GIS workflows benefit from aviation\u2011specific data models. Updated airport schemas now include attribution that is aligned with FAA 18B requirements, giving users a ready\u2011to\u2011use structure for airside data including runways, centerlines, obstacles, and other features. This means users no longer need to design fields from scratch or guess what information regulators expect. While certain operational values still need to be populated, the underlying schema supports more consistent data exchange with the FAA and other authorities. Future improvements will simplify data exchange by optimizing the integration of aviation-standard CAD files into ArcGIS. The goal is simple: reduce manual data wrangling and make compliant data easier to work with.<\/p>\n\n

Case 5 – Clear, Actionable Analytics<\/h2>\n\n

Once surfaces are created, the real value comes from analysis. GIS\u2011based obstacle analysis tools provide outputs that are both technically rigorous and easy to interpret. Results typically include:<\/p>\n\n