viewshed

English

Etymology

Modelled on watershed, with view. Compare foodshed.

Noun

viewshed (plural viewsheds)

1. (geography) The view from a particular vantage point.
   • 1989, Stanley Aronoff, Geographic Information Systems:

     The viewshed is the area that can be "seen" (ie is in direct line-of-sight) from the specified target locations.

   • 1999, Bruce M Gittings, Integrating Information Infrastructures with Geographical Information:

     Whilst the viewshed quantifies visibility for a limited set of test locations...

   • 2000, Matthew Schmidt, Radiocarbon Dating New Zealand Prehistory Using Marine Shell:

     The major shortcoming of viewshed analysis is the accuracy of the results.