Design

The design of this application will include the creation of three custom tools inside an ArcGIS Desktop Python Toolbox as well as a Python add-in for ArcGIS Desktop that includes two tools.

The two tools, that are part of the Python add-in, include a tool that can be used to define a point location that indicates the last known position of the lost individual, and a tool that can be used to sketch search sectors.

For the ArcGIS Desktop Python Toolbox, there is a tool that will be used to assign attributes to the LKP, a tool to define buffer polygons representing distances around the LKP, and a tool to export data to the Google Earth KML format. The following diagram shows how it works:

Let's get started and build the application.