{"id":44,"date":"2026-05-27T18:15:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/?p=44"},"modified":"2026-05-27T18:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:16:19","slug":"raster-modeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"Raster Modeling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this post I was learning to combine and manipulate rasters in ArcGIS Pro in order to locate a suitable habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl in southeastern Utah, in the United States.  I found this project interesting not only for the problem at hand, but also the level of complexity.  For me, it was one of the most complex projects I&#8217;ve tried to date, and gave me a better idea of why naming conventions and data storage processes are important.  No use in doing all the work involved if you can&#8217;t find the final results file when you&#8217;re finished!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">General Criteria for Mexican Spotted Owl Habitat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Layman&#8217;s Lingo<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>GIS Data Variable<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Refined Habitat Criteria<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Vegetation area with trees<\/td><td>Landcover<\/td><td>Pinyon-juniper communities<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Steep Canyons<\/td><td>Slope<\/td><td>Slopes greater than 40\u00b0<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ledges &amp; Caves<\/td><td>Concavity\/Convexity<\/td><td>Curvature values greater than 1.5 SD from mean<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Faces mostly North<\/td><td>Aspect<\/td><td>North West, North, and North East aspects<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"663\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mexican-Spotted-Owl-663x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-46\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mexican-Spotted-Owl-663x1024.jpg 663w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mexican-Spotted-Owl-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mexican-Spotted-Owl-768x1187.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mexican-Spotted-Owl-994x1536.jpg 994w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mexican-Spotted-Owl-1325x2048.jpg 1325w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Mexican-Spotted-Owl-scaled.jpg 1656w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 663px) 100vw, 663px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Above is pictured the final product for export or printing at poster-size, but I thought I would add a few more screenshots below showing the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"618\" src=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM-1024x618.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-49\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM-1024x618.png 1024w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM-768x464.png 768w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM-1536x927.png 1536w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM-2048x1236.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Original 10m DEM used in project (study area in polygon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"447\" src=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM_to_slope-1024x447.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM_to_slope-1024x447.png 1024w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM_to_slope-300x131.png 300w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM_to_slope-768x335.png 768w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM_to_slope-1536x670.png 1536w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DEM_to_slope-2048x894.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">10m DEM converted to Slope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"466\" src=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/slope_reclass-1024x466.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/slope_reclass-1024x466.png 1024w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/slope_reclass-300x136.png 300w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/slope_reclass-768x349.png 768w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/slope_reclass-1536x698.png 1536w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/slope_reclass-2048x931.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Slope Raster reclassified to search for greater than 40\u00b0 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"464\" src=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover-1024x464.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover-1024x464.png 1024w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover-300x136.png 300w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover-768x348.png 768w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover-1536x696.png 1536w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover-2048x927.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Original land coverage data<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"463\" src=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover_reclass-1-1024x463.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover_reclass-1-1024x463.png 1024w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover_reclass-1-300x136.png 300w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover_reclass-1-768x347.png 768w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover_reclass-1-1536x695.png 1536w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/landcover_reclass-1-2048x927.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Landcover data reclassified to search for pinyon-juniper communities <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"592\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rastercalc-592x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-55\" style=\"width:394px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rastercalc-592x1024.png 592w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rastercalc-174x300.png 174w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rastercalc-768x1327.png 768w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rastercalc-889x1536.png 889w, https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/rastercalc.png 917w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Example of Raster Calculator process used to generate final raster product<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this post I was learning to combine and manipulate rasters in ArcGIS Pro in order to locate a suitable habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl in southeastern Utah, in the United States. I found this project interesting not only for the problem at hand, but also the level of complexity. For me, it was &#8230; <a title=\"Raster Modeling\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/?p=44\" aria-label=\"Read more about Raster Modeling\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58,"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpapworth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}