I would like to use the distance matrix tool (or a similar function) to look at distances between sites (displayed as point data) and large rivers (displayed as linear).
I have been following this nearest neighbour tutorial until now http://www.qgistutorials.com/en/docs/nearest_neighbor_analysis.html
But the distance matrix tool only allows for point data. Apart from the fact my input layer (European rivers) is linear, the initial aim of this research is pretty basic. I want to find the mean distance between my sites and major rivers (later i want to examine the results in terms of travel times using slope data but that's a diffrent question I guess).
Is there a precedent for this kind of research or am I on the wrong track entirely? Am using QGIS 2.16.
Processing Toolbox > GRASS commands > Vector > v.distance
. This calculates the nearest distance from one 'element' to another in two different layers. – Joseph Aug 15 '16 at 11:21