I have a point layer and I want to calculate the distance from each point to a number of line features (rivers, roads etc.). Using the "Near" tool I can do this for one feature at a time (eg rivers) and I get 2 new fields in the attribute table indicating the id of the nearest feature and the distance. Fine. However, trying to find distance to the next features (eg roads) simply overwrites the previous ones (for rivers). The problem is I want to get distances to multiple features and get them all added separately to the attribute table. I tried to change the field name to see if this helped but I can only change the "Alias" so it makes no difference. I am working in Arcmap 10.0. Thanks.
[GIS] How to calculate distances from points to multiple features at the same time
arcgis-10.0
Best Answer
You are correct, the Near tool only generates the distance to the single nearest feature.
ArcGIS can do this using the Generate Near Table option, also in the
Analysis -> Proximitysection of the toolbox. More information here: http://resources.esri.com/help/9.3/ArcGISDesktop/dotnet/Gp_ToolRef/analysis_tools/generate_near_table_analysis_.htm - be sure to untick the "Find only closest feature" box.Once the table has been generated, you can use joins to join it back up to your spatial data.
Note: I believe it may require an ArcInfo level license.