Module 4: Vector Analysis

 This week's lab we were tasked with creating a map that showcases what areas would be eligible for campsites in the De Soto National Forest, MS. The possible sites were being based off of distance from water and roads as well as avoiding any conservation areas. These labs showed us what tools to use to accomplish this and to have the proper data for the map. Starting out with the lab was pretty familiar and easy to follow and do. The part that became tricky to me was excluding the conservation area from the possible sites layer. I was struggling with knowing which layer to put as the input layer and which for the erase feature part. At first I put the Buffer_union layer first then the conservation layer as the erase and thought I was getting incorrect data so I reversed it and went back and forth a few times but figured out I was just overthinking and knew I had the right data from the first time. Other than that I enjoyed using and learning how to use the different overlay tools. We learned how to create a union between two layers as well as how to exclude certain parts of a layer from another. Another mistake I did was accidentally deleting data downloaded from the R drive. I also kept choosing wrong data.gdb from the wrong folder. I do not understand entirely how I did this but it took me deleting everything and starting completely over to get it right and have the correct data.gdb. For future I know which folder to select from as well as writing down or taking a note somewhere telling me the filepath of the data.gdb. I also keep cutting off my border and know I just need to bring it in a tad more.