DescriptionMetrics
MSBuffer calculates three metrics: area/length, functional area/length, and count features.
The analysis will provide the calculation of the area of the specified variable of interest within each buffer size. To perform the calculation, the MSBuffer clips the variable of interest using the buffer zone, calculates, and sum the area of all the parts of the polygons of the variable of interest which overlaps the buffer. This is valid when the variable of interest is a shapefile whose geometry is "polygon". The same is valid for length, when the variable of interest is a linear shapefile, e.g. representing rivers or roads. The algorithm clips the variable of interest using the buffer zone and calculates the total length of this variable inside the buffer.
The functional area is the total area functionally connected to the buffer even though this area extends outside the buffer limits. To perform the calculation MSBuffer selects the polygons of the variable of interest that intersects the buffer zone and calculates the area of these polygons. The functional area is the sum of the areas of these polygons. Therefore, this metric takes into account the area of the selected polygons that are present inside the buffer zone, but also their parts that extends outside its limits. The same is valid for the functional length, for linear maps.
The count feature option counts the number of polygons, lines, or points of the variable of interest that intersect the buffer zone.
