Proximity Analysis
Point-to-point nearest neighbor, k-nearest, and within-distance search — add a distance-to-nearest field or connecting lines between matched points.
How to use
- Pick or paste a source points layer. Optionally pick a separate target layer — leave it empty to search within the source layer itself.
- Choose Nearest (one match per point), K Nearest (a fixed count), or Within Distance (a radius in meters).
- For Nearest, download the source points with a distance-to-nearest field added, or the connecting lines between each matched pair.
- This is point-to-point distance only — the nearest distance to a line or polygon's boundary is a different calculation this tool doesn't do.
- Distance is geodesic (great-circle), matching every other measurement in this app — never a planar distance on raw lon/lat degrees.
Point-to-point distance only — this does not compute the distance to the nearest point on a line or polygon's boundary, which is a different, harder problem. A non-Point feature on either side is skipped and reported, never measured to its centroid as a substitute.
Leave the target empty to search within the source layer itself — a point is never matched to itself.
Pick or paste a source points layer to run a search.
Proximity Analysis Coverage
Computes point-to-point distance only, with three search modes — Nearest (one match), K Nearest (a fixed count), and Within Distance (a radius search) — all using geodesic distance. Leaving the target layer empty searches within the source layer itself, excluding self-matches.
This does not compute the nearest distance to a line or polygon's boundary — that's a different, harder calculation than distance-to-centroid and is out of scope here. A non-Point feature on either side is skipped and reported rather than measured to its centroid as a stand-in.
Frequently asked questions
Can this find the nearest distance to a line or polygon?
No — this tool computes point-to-point distance only. Nearest-distance-to-a-boundary needs a different calculation than distance-to-centroid, isn't implemented, and any non-Point feature is skipped and reported rather than approximated.
Is the distance planar or geodesic?
Geodesic (great-circle) — consistent with every other distance/area calculation in this app; never a planar distance on raw lon/lat degrees.