Geoprocessing with Python

Geoprocessing with Python teaches you how to use the Python programming language, along with free and open source tools, to read, write, and process geospatial data.

This book is about the science of reading, analyzing, and presenting geospatial data programmatically, using Python. Thanks to dozens of open source Python libraries and tools, you can take on professional geoprocessing tasks without investing in expensive proprietary packages like ArcGIS and MapInfo. The book shows you how.

Geoprocessing with Python teaches you how to access available datasets to make maps or perform your own analyses using free tools like the GDAL, NumPy, and matplotlib Python modules. Through lots of hands-on examples, you'll master core practices like handling multiple vector file formats, editing geometries, applying spatial and attribute filters, working with projections, and performing basic analyses on vector data. The book also covers how to manipulate, resample, and analyze raster data, such as aerial photographs and digital elevation models.

What's Inside

• Geoprocessing from the ground up
• Read, write, process, and analyze raster data
• Visualize data with matplotlib
• Write custom geoprocessing tools
• Three additional appendixes available online

To read this book all you need is a basic knowledge of Python or a similar programming language.

Chris Garrard works as a developer for Utah State University and teaches a graduate course on Python programming for GIS.