Measuring distances and areas

Resource Center

The Measure tool lets you measure lines and areas on the map. You can use this tool to draw
a line or polygon on the map and get its length or area, or you can click directly on a feature
and get measurement information.
Click the Measure tool

on the Tools toolbar to open the Measure dialog box.

The Measure dialog box allows you to set different options for how you measureincluding
whether to measure lines, areas, or featuresand to set which units are reported.
Measurements are displayed on the dialog box, so it is easy to copy and paste them into
other applications.
The Measure dialog box contains tools for measuring distance and features. By default,
the Measure Line tool is enabled until you choose a different option.
The tools on the Measure dialog box are listed below:

Measure LineDouble-click to complete the line.

Measure An AreaDouble-click to complete the polygon. (This is unavailable if

your data frame is not using a projected coordinate system.)

Measure A FeatureClick a feature to measure its length (line), perimeter and

area (polygon or annotation), or x,y location (point features). Polygon feature

measurement is unavailable if your data frame is not using a projected coordinate
system.

Show TotalKeep a sum of consecutive measurements.

Choose UnitsSet the distance and area measurement units. The measurement

units are set to the map units by default.

Clear and Reset ResultsClear and reset the measurement results.

Choose Measurement TypeSet the measurement type for measuring line
distances. Planar is the default when working in a projected coordinate system. Geodesic
is the default when working in a geographic coordinate system.

Interactive measurement

You can sketch lines and areas on the map over your display and return their
measurements. Here are the steps to measure length and areas using map graphics:
Steps
1. Click the Measure tool

on the Tools toolbar.

2. Click the Measure A Line button

or the Measure An Area button

3. Sketch the desired shape on your map.

4. Double-click when you want to end the line or polygon, and the
measurements are displayed on the Measure dialog box.

Measuring features
You can select features and return their lengths and areas. You can also use the Show
Total tool
to sum the measurements for a series of features.
Steps
1. Click the Measure tool

on the Tools toolbar.

2. Click the Measure A Feature button

3. Click on a feature to see its measurements. If you also use Show Total
,
click on a series of features to see each individual measurement as well as
the running total for all features.
Tip:
The Calculate Geometry command, which is accessed from the table window, will
calculate lengths, areas, x,y coordinates, and so on, and place the values into a
field in the attribute table. To learn more about Calculate Geometry, see Calculating
area, length, and other geometric properties.

Measurement types available with the Measure tool

The Choose Measurement Type drop-down list provides a selection of measurement types
to use for distance measurement. Measurement types available
include Planar, Geodesic, Loxodrome, and Great Elliptic.
Measurement type of the measure tool
Planar

Planar measurement use 2D Cartesian mathematics to calculate lengths and areas. This option is only available when meas
and the 2D plane of that coordinate system will be used as the basis for the measurements. All area measurements calculat

Geodesic

The shortest line between any two points on the earth's surface on a spheroid (ellipsoid). One use for a geodesic line is wh
distance between two cities for an airplane's flight path. This is also known as a great circle line if based on a sphere rather

Loxodrome

A loxodrome is not the shortest distance between two points but instead defines the line of constant bearing, or azimuth. G
series of loxodromes, which simplifies navigation. This is also known as a rhumb line.

Great
Elliptic

The line on a spheroid (ellipsoid) defined by the intersection at the surface by a plane that passes through the center of the
segment. This is also known as a great circle when a sphere is used. The great elliptic type allows you to create lines only.

When measuring in a data frame with a projected coordinate system, the default
measurement type will be Planar. This means that 2D Cartesian mathematics are used to
calculate lengths. Planar measurements reflect the projection of geographic data onto the
2D surface (in other words, they will not take into account the curvature of the
earth). Geodesic, Loxodrome, and Great Elliptic measurement types may be chosen as an
alternative if desired.
When measuring in a data frame with a geographic coordinate system, the default
measurement type is Geodesic. Planar line measurements and all area measurements will
be unavailable when measuring in a geographic coordinate system. Loxodrome and Great
Elliptic measurement types may be chosen as an alternative if desired.

Using snapping
The Measure tool uses snapping in ArcMapthe cursor will snap to features, edges, and
coordinates that you have specified in your snapping settings. When you place your
pointer on your map document and begin to enter coordinates, your snapping settings will
be used. To learn more about snapping, see About snapping.
Tip:
When you use the Measure tool in snapping mode, it is easy to trace over features,
such as to measure the distance between street intersections. If you want to snap to
edges (the parts of lines where there is no vertex, such as the edge of a parcel with
straight sides), hold down CTRL when measuring. To turn of snapping temporarily,
hold down the SPACEBAR key.