Exporting GIS Shapefiles

The Export Shapefile tool enables you to create and export GIS shapefiles that contain data from STK objects. These files can then be imported into another program, such as ArcView(r), for further analysis. You can also use this tool to export sensor swath shapefiles.

To access the Export Shapefile tool, select Export ->Shapefile... from the Utilities menu.

Export GIS Shapefile options

Option Description
Export Shape Choose one of the following shapes from the drop-down menu:
  • Point - Creates a file containing selected STK facility, place and target points.
  • Polygon - Creates a file containing selected STK area target polygons.
  • Arc - Creates a file containing selected STK vehicles' (satellite, aircraft, ship, ground vehicle) tracks.
  • Polyline - Creates a file suitable for Communications contours and other shapes that are not necessarily closed. Also supports area targets, facilities, and selected vehicles.
Objects

The objects list contains all objects (depending on the shape that you choose) whose data can be exported to the GIS shapefile.

If you have selected a polygon shape, Figure of Merit objects with contours are included in the list.

When a transmitter is exported to a GIS shapefile, the file will contain contour values.

Time Step For GIS shapefiles containing Tracking Analyst data, select Use Default Time Step, or clear it and select an interval.

Tracking Analyst is an extension to Esri ArcMap™ that supports temporal information with geographic feature data. This includes adding time and date information to features in GIS shapefiles.
Include altitude Includes altitude (Z) values when exporting the GIS shapefile.
Shapefile

Click Export... to create the file. By default, the file will be:

  • given the object's name.
  • saved in the scenario folder.

You can assign the file a different name and browse to a different folder.

If you export an AzEl mask shapefile for a facility, STK will exclude any step that is at the same altitude as the facility. This prevents STK from attempting to compute a mask that results in a single point (or less).