I am student of Statistics, this is my first time using GIS., I am sorry for the stupidity of the question but I browsed online and could not find a satisfactory answer.
I have some spatial data in the format (lat, long, y).
I have noticed that the sea proximity influences the statistics y, Is it possible (and if it is how can you do it) to interpolate the coast and then calculate a minimum distance between the polyline interpolating it and the measurement point?
I can do the interpolation on R if it is complicated on GIS, but how can I retrieve the data of the "vertices" of the shore?
I understand I have to use polygons, but how does that work do I have to do it manually or is there an automatic way?
Please do not say to read the guides, I have read quite enough and I am clearly missing something.
I have downloaded GRASS GIS and have an ArcGIS online account.
My data about the Finland coast come from here. country: Finland, subject: Administrative Areas.
Thanks
Irene
Best Answer
For ArcGIS since you said you installed the trial:
The Near tool does exactly what you are looking for. Your points should go in 'Input Features' and your coastline will go in 'Near Features' the tool will add NEAR_DIST field to your points.
Very important note: "The distances calculated by this tool are in the unit of the coordinate system of the input features. If your input is in a geographic coordinate system and you want output distances to be measured in a linear unit (as opposed to decimal degrees), you must first project your input to a projected coordinate system using the Project tool. For best results, use an equidistant projection or a projection intended for your study area (UTM, for example)."