Esri ArcGIS Pro Associate Pro Certification Practice Exam

Which spatial analysis process would you use to examine overlapping features and attributes?

1. Count Overlapping Features

2. Overlay

3. Erase

4. Intersect

The correct answer is: Overlay

The process of overlaying in spatial analysis is designed specifically for examining how features and their associated attributes interact across different layers. When using overlay, two or more spatial datasets are combined to create new geometries that represent the spatial relationships among the original features. This can include determining areas where features from different layers overlap, as well as providing the combined attributes from both layers for those overlapping areas. In GIS, overlay operations can take various forms, such as union, intersection, and difference, each providing different insights depending on the goals of the analysis. For example, the union operation combines all features from both layers, while intersection focuses specifically on the areas where both layers overlap, effectively showing where certain conditions are met in terms of overlapping features and attributes. While other options like Intersect also deal with overlapping features, overlay encompasses a broader set of operations that allow for a more comprehensive examination of relationships among multiple datasets, making it the best choice for the general inquiry about examining overlapping features and their attributes.