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I have point data for a ground surface level which is captured in a grid of 35m spacings. I also have point data for the new surface level after soil has been removed which is captured at random locations using a mobile GPS. I want to create a DTM for both surfaces and then calculate a volume for the amount of soil removed.

Is this possible with ArcGIS Desktop 10.0?

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    Hi, welcome to GIS.SE. You can do that for sure, but we would need to know what software you have at your disposal (and which you prefer). You have a DTM, you want a DEM, you can do that by creating two terrains, exporting to raster and then subtract one from the other. Then look at resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//… (3d analyst required).
    – Michael Stimson
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 1:43
  • Hi Micheal, Sorry i just altered my post.....I am using Arc GIS. ArcMap 10.
    – Craig
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 1:45
  • Ok now worries I will give that a go. Thanks so much for your help.
    – Craig
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 1:51
  • You make it sound so simple ha ha
    – Craig
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 1:51
  • It's not too difficult, just a few steps. Start by creating two geodatabases, make a feature dataset in each, import your point data into them and create a terrain for each one, add the points and build each terrain then export to raster. Use Raster calculator (spatial analyst license required) to subtract one from the other and run the surface volume tool.. all done.
    – Michael Stimson
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 2:07

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Assuming you have created surfaces from your surveys; this is a simple cut and fill operation, however you will need either a Spatial Analyst or the 3D Analyst extension to do this. (Calculates the volume change between two surfaces.)

I beleive out of the 2 extensions, Spatial Analyst is pretty much essential however the 3D analyst will allow you to also work with triangulated irregular surfaces (TINs) i addition to rasters and you can do operations such as extrude between surfaced to create 3D representations of the cut and fill volumes. To just get the numbers (volumes and areas) you just need to run cut/fill.

Screen capture from ArcGIS 10.3 help: enter image description here

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