Chapter 5. Python and Geographic Information Systems
This chapter will focus on applying Python to functions typically performed by a Geographic Information System (GIS) such as QGIS or ArcGIS. We will continue to use as few external dependencies as possible outside Python itself, so you have tools which are as reusable as possible in different environments.
As with other chapters in this book, the items presented here are core functions which serve as building blocks which can be recombined to solve challenges which you will encounter beyond this book. Topics include:
- Measuring distance
- Converting coordinates
- Reprojecting vector data
- Editing shapefiles
- Selecting data from within larger data sets
- Creating thematic maps
- Conversion of non-GIS data types
This chapter contains many code samples. In addition to the text, code comments are included as guides within the samples.
