Study Area Tools
Study Area Tools
The study area tools in Sitewise provide additional functionality that helps you get the most out of your study areas. The Profile tab contains many tools allowing you to generate reports, edit projects, and view demographics which are discussed in the Navigating the Profile Tab article. This article will show you how to generate the overlap between study areas, merge study areas together, and how to export study areas for use outside of Sitewise.
Use Cases
- We are looking at multiple potential sites in a new market and want to analyze the overlap impact between the store trade areas. This will help determine how many stores to open in this new market. What tool should we use?
- One of my stores is permanently closing. Is it possible for me to assess the potential impact it may have on a nearby store, as this store will need to incorporate the trade area of the closing store?
- I want to export the study areas that I have created for our own company records. Is there a way for me to easily do this and keep the spatial data?
If these use cases sound similar to what you’re trying to achieve, you’re in luck! In this article, we’ll focus on the Overlap Analysis tool, the Merge Study Areas tool, and the Export Study Areas tool which can all be found in the Project Properties panel.
How to Find the Study Area Tools
The study area tools are found in the bottom right side of the project properties panel. Below are instructions on how to navigate to this panel:
- Before starting, make sure you have two or more study areas visible on the map by:
- Creating them. If you need guidance on creating study areas, then check out the Study Areas section
- Opening a past project that includes the study areas you want to analyze. To open a past project, check out Working in the My Projects Tab.
- Navigate to the Profile tab and open the Project Properties panel by clicking on the
icon.
- At the bottom of the project properties panel, the study areas panel will appear
Overlap Analysis
This tool creates a new study area(s) where two or more study areas ‘overlap’ or meet. The overlap analysis tool can also create additional study areas for the section(s) in which two or more overlapping study areas do not overlap. This can help organizations assess the effects that 2 or more sites have on each other, providing insight into the population data in overlapping trade areas.
How to Create an Overlap Analysis of Study Areas
- At the bottom of the Project Properties panel, click on the Calculate Overlaps icon
to open the Polygon Overlay window.
- To calculate only the overlaps and exclude the rest of the study area, click the 'Calculate Overlaps Only' check box.
- To calculate the overlaps AND the portions of the study areas which do not overlap, leave the box unchecked.
- Click Calculate. This will create new study areas, based on what you’ve selected in the previous step.
- The new study areas will appear on the map and in the Profile tab, with the demographic data of each study area now being shown in the Profile tab as an additional column.
Before
After
Merging Study Areas
This tool combines two or more study areas to create an additional new study area. This new study area can be seen in the right project properties panel similar to the overlap study area. Before merging, make sure that your current project includes only the study areas you want to merge.
Note: This tool will merge all study areas into one, regardless of how far apart they are or if they overlap.
How to Merge Study Areas
- Select the Merge All Study Areas icon
at the bottom of the panel.
- Name the merged study area accordingly and click on the ‘Merge’ button.
- This will create a new merged study area on the map and in the Profile tab.
Before
After
Exporting Study Areas
The export tool is found in the profile tab 
, and allows you to export study areas for use offline in the following file formats:
- ESRI Shapefile (shp)
- MapInfo File (tab)
These two file formats are offered to maintain the shape data associated with the study areas and will export as a zipped folder containing multiple files. This enables you to utilize the information outside of Sitewise. If you’re not sure how to use these files outside of Sitewise, please reach out to Sitewise Support.
- Click on the
icon at the bottom of the panel.
- Choose from the two format options.
- A yellow box will appear on the bottom right corner of the screen indicating that Sitewise is exporting the study areas.
- Once the file has finished downloading, the yellow textbox will change, providing an option to download the file.
- If the file is taking longer than expected to export, please contact Sitewise Support.
What’s Next?
The Profile tab in Sitewise offers a range of tools and reports designed to help you analyze and manage data effectively. Below is a list of useful articles to help you with the Profile tab:
- Navigating the Profile Tab: A guide to accessing and using the features within the Profile tab.
- Standard Profile Reports: Details on generating and understanding the reports available in the Profile section.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Sitewise Support!
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