Spatial join polygon to line

[JohnMorgan]

Hello, 

I am joining a polygon layer to a line layer. It works for polygons where line segments cross entirely the polygon. But, it does not catch those polygons that the line starts or ends in. Any suggestions? I am using ArcGIS Pro

Thanks, 

Derek

[DanPatterson]

What match options have you tried?

Spatial Join (Analysis)—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

[JohnMorgan]

Hello, 

I have tried both Intersect and Contains. 

[DanPatterson]

did you specify a search radius that can be used with intersects.

try crossed-by-the-outline-of

Note from the help that contains won't work with polyline, polygon

[JohnMorgan]

Hi, Dan. 

Thanks for always being here to answer my questions. So I tried, and these relationship types don't seem to be allowed. Next, I tried the intersect with a 25ft search radius, and it didn't make much of a difference in the test case I was looking at. So I increased the amount to 500ft, even slightly more than I needed. So, I think there is an ideal choice in the search radius. The polygons are a grid of 3280 x 3280 ft. When I choose 200 ft that works for my test case at least, but I am left wondering if there is a mathematical rule here? Thanks, Derek

[DanPatterson]

I don't know if there is a mathematical rule.

You might consider other options like converting the polygons to their polyline representation or examing the Near tool

[JohnMorgan]

Hello, 

I just wanted to document this here in case others benefit from it. I learned there is a distinction between using Add Spatial Join and running the tool Spatial Join in the Geoprocessing tools. The latter allows for a one-to-many join operation or cardinality that works quite well for this case of a line crossing multiple polygons.