Heron

118 members

Description

This is the first release of an add-on which enables the import of GIS data from various sources into the Rhino/Grasshopper environment, located, scaled and cropped based on an Earth Anchor Point and a clipping polygon.  Sources of GIS data include Shapefiles, USGS IMG/HGT Elevation files and ArcGIS REST Services over the web.

The add-on includes eight components in two categories:

GIS REST

  • ESRI REST Service Geocode. Get a Decimal Degree coordinate from an address or Point-of-Interest with the Geocode service provided by ESRI.  
  • Get REST Service Layers. Discover data layers  from various data sources on the web. If the layers are a vector type, they return data similar to a shapefile, with geometry and associated data fields.  To be used with the Get REST Vector or Get REST Raster component depending on the data type.
  • Get REST Raster. Grabs JPGs of imagery from the specified web source.  Once downloaded to a folder the image can be located and scaled to match the boundary in real world units (meters) with the use of the image frame.
  • Get REST Vector.  Queries the web source for geometry and associated data fields.  For instance demographic information from the US Census can be referenced.

GIS Tools

  • Decimal Degrees to XY.  Convert Decimal Degrees to XY coorindates based on the EarthAnchorPoint.
  • Import SHP.  Imports Shapefiles using OGR Libraries. Output is in the form of points (for now) which can then be connected to form polylines.  For Shapefiles with Multipolygons (ie building footprints with courtyards), the component reads mulitple branches of points per Feature.  To get the footprint, you will need to draw a polyline for each branch, shift the branches and use the Boundary Surface component.
  • Import Topo.  Imports IMG and (STRM) HGT files using GDAL Libraries.  Output is in the form of a mesh.
  • Set EarthAnchorPoint.  Runs a macro to set the Earth Anchor Point in Rhino.  This is important to minimize distortion translating from the curved surface of the Earth to Euclidean coordinates.

Special thanks go to the vibrant GH community, the masterful guidance of Andrew Heumann and endless patience of George Waters.

Comments Discussions Members

Export shp to projected SRS

by Evgeny Shirinyan

Aug 19, 2022

Hi Brian,

I glad to see the permanent progress of the plugin! I am back with my typical question on SRS, but this time in the context of the export to shp.

I have a drawing that is in a right location according to the projected SRS I work with.

What are the exact steps to export the geometry to shp when working with projected SRS?

When I export my geometry to shp, I find it very far from my location needed. 

I tried to set EAP to lat = 0, lon = meridian defined in .prj file of the SRS (24). It became better, but 500000 m on east from the right location. This false 500000 m easting is defined in prj as well. So I moved my geometry to the left on 500000 m. And nevertheless it is lower than 160 m from the exact location. And that was Greek Grid (2100)

While testing UTM zone 35N for the same location, the results are worse: I have my geometry to 500000 on east. When I subtract -500000 move my geometry in Grasshopper it moves further on east. Maybe I should do some transformations with Heron, but I didn't find any instructions on this topic.

Thank you in advance!

  • up

    Brian Washburn

    Hi Evgeny,

    Thanks for your questions, you're previous input was part of the push to get HeronSRS to work. 

    Try getting the origin of the SRS in Lat/Lon by inputting 0,0 in the Coordinate Transformation component using the SRS of interest as the source and WGS84 or EPSG:4326 as the destination.  Then set the EAP to the Lat/Lon coordinates of the source SRS.

    If you post a file with the geometry you are looking to export internalized, I can try to make sure the export is landing in the right spot.


    -Brian

    11

    Aug 20, 2022

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