Step 4 – creating viewshed coverages

In this section, we will apply the advanced visibility analysis tools that are available from the Viewshed Analysis plugin. Install it as described in the Extending functionality through plugins section of Chapter 1, Handling Your Data.

After the plugin has been installed, you can get access to its functionality by going to Plugin | Viewshed Analysis. The Advanced viewshed analysis dialog window consists of three tabs. The General tab provides access to all the available analysis and output options. The Reference tab contains brief descriptions of the options and a link to the project's homepage, where you can read detailed information about the algorithm implemented in the plugin and report bugs, if any. The About tab contains brief information about the author and the plugin's homepage link.

Use the following options under the General tab to create viewshed coverages, as shown in the following screenshot:

• Elevation raster: Select the urban_surface raster...