QGIS expression selecting features intersecting single buffer that has certain distance to the buffered feature

Question

I am looking for an expression in QGIS that allows me to select polygon features (layer 1, red polygons), that intersect more than 50 percent of the buffer ring around a point feature of another layer (layer 2, green point).

The buffer does not touch the buffered feature. It has a certain distance to it. Ideally I would not need to create a new layer for this.

I want to use this expression for the field calculator. Combined with CASE WHEN THEN, the polygons in layer 1 that intersect more than 50 percent of the buffer ring will get the value "good".

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Answer 1

Something along the lines of the following may achieve your objective.

You haven't specified how the buffer ring is defined. I have arbitrarily given it an outer radius of 1000 and inner radius of 500, with 50 segments.

Also, I've just assumed that the green point is feature ID = 1 in (which you will need to replace with your layer ID).

In short:

• Create an outer ring and inner ring based on the green point
• Take the difference of those to create your buffer ring
• Take the intersection of the buffer ring and each polygon
• Calculate the area of intersection
• Divide this by the total area of each polygon
• Check if greater than 0.5

area(
 intersection(
 difference(
 buffer(
 geometry(
 get_feature_by_id(<layer2>,1)
 ),1000,50
 ),
 buffer(
 geometry(
 get_feature_by_id(<layer2>,1)
 ),500,50
 )
 ),$geometry
 )
) / $area > 0.5

• Mat Thias: Thanks a lot. I specify: The buffer shoud be around all features (green points) in layer 2, other asumptions are perfect. I adopted your expression to my case: CASE WHEN area(intersection( difference( buffer(geometry('layer 2'),1000,50), buffer(geometry('layer 2'),500,50)),$geometry) ) / $area > 0.5 THEN 'medium' WHEN area(intersection( difference(buffer(geometry('layer 2'),499,50), buffer(geometry('layer 2'),1,50)),$geometry) ) / $area > 0.5 THEN 'good' ELSE 'bad' END I receive the error message: cannot convert to feature. U know why?
• Tom Brennan: The geometry function in Expression Builder takes a feature argument, not a layer - hence the error message: "cannot convert to feature"
• Tom Brennan: If you want to deal with multiple buffer rings, you will need to define your problem more carefully. For example, what happens if the rings overlap? And what if a polygon overlaps 30% of one buffer ring, and 40% of another? Is that good or bad?
• Tom Brennan: Geometry in expression builder can't refer to a layer. However, there are sometimes tricks that can be used to sum up results across multiple features of a layer. Remember to go back and edit the original question with clarifications (and possibly extra screenshots).
• Tom Brennan: You may in fact be better off asking your more detailed requirements as a separate question, referencing this one.