Batch Kernel Density Tool

Author: Timothy Fox, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54603 Platform developed: ArcMap 10.5 Addin

The Batch Kernel Density Too is an ArcGIS ArcMap add-in developed at UMESC. When using this tool, a user can perform a magnitude-per-unit area analysis using point or polyline input data across multiple search radii (Figure 1).

Files

-FoxBatchKernelDensityTool.esriAddInn this is the compiled ArcGIS AddIn file that can be added ArcGIS 10.5

Installation:

To install this tool:

1. within a session of ArcMap 10.5, open the Add-in Manager dialog
2. click the Options tab
3. add the folder location to where you locally download the file FoxBatchKernelDensityTool.esriAddIn
4. click the Customize. button
5. click the Commands tab of the Customize dialog
6. Find the Fox Tools category
7. Drag the Batch Kernel Density Tool command button to an empty space within ArcMap 😎 Save your ArcMap session to save the user interface changes to the Normal template

Input dialog:

Figure 1. Batch Kernel Density Tool input dialog.

Example analyses:

In this example kernel density estimates are created for waterfowl telemetry locations at four different search radii: 500, 1000, 5000, and 10000 meters (Figure 2). The NUMBER_OBS field contains the number of observations at each point, in this case each point represents a single bird. The analyses will generate magnitude-per-unit area estimates in km2, and a raster mask of Lake Michigan will be used to restrict the results to the footprint of Lake Michigan.

Figure 2. Results for the 10000m search radius are depicted in this figure. An analysis of 4 search radii was run, using radii of: 500, 1000, 5000, and 10000m.

Prior to running the tool, the user selects a folder to contain the output products. The tool automatically creates a uniquely named folder using the pattern BKD_#. Within this folder, subfolders are created identifying the area units and search radius used, within the subfolders raster images of the analyses are saved, and named after the input field. The results are added to the ArcMap session with a 20 class, equal interval renderer. Below you can see the results of the tool using the four search radii (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Close-up of the Green Bay area of Lake Michigan showing the results of the four search radii input into the tool