This week we looked at geoprocessing using ArcGIS tools, as well as ArcGIS's Model Builder. I've encountered Model Builder before, but learning that you can use a model as the base for a standalone Python script (and then, a Python script as the base for a tool in ArcGIS) is a game-changer. I've already thought of a real-world application to make my life easier outside of class.
Anyway, for this week's lab assignment, we were given several datasets and asked to make a model and then a Python script. I liked doing a model first instead of diving right into scripting, because the models are set up like flow charts, and it's a good way to visualize all the steps you need to go through to get the desired result. From there, it's easy to finalize the model, then export it to a script and finalize that so it can run independently.
For this assignment, it went something like this: all map layers as variables > clip each variable to "basin" layer shape > from clip output for "soils" layer, select all that are not prime farmland > use selection result to erase areas of basin layer
So the final output, of both the model and the Python script, is a shapefile of the basin layer minus parts that aren't prime farmland, like this:
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