Point to point distance over specified distance

Question

I need to calculate the distance between neighbouring points which conform to a staggered line.

I have two point datasets, one being the baseline and another the monitor. The points typically reside ontop of each other within a few metres. I need highlight the ones that fall outside a specified range.

The specification is that one point must have a neighbouring point no further than +/- 9m away from it within 1km sections. The average cannot be over 12m as well. So I need to calculate the distance to its closest neighbour and output this into tabular form thus highlighting where the second feature is out of 'spec' with an appropriate colour. It is likely that only a few will be out over many 1000's.

Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

If you have an ArcInfo (or Advanced) license level the Near Analysis tool should give you exactly what you need. It will add the ID of the nearest feature to your input point feature class attribute table, and a distance as well. FYI - The distance will be in the units of your input data's projection.