Visibility analysis is a valuable part of GIS analysis that answers questions such as "What can be seen from this location point?" In this chapter, you will be exposed to the basics of visibility analysis through defining the roof that provides the most scenic view of an area, and where the viewing platform can potentially be located. Throughout the chapter, you will learn how to do the following:
Prepare data to represent urban landscape features
Select potential observation points
Compute the viewsheds to find the most scenic points
Present the results in a 3D scene
Before we start, we will explore some essential principles of viewshed analysis.