Lab 2 - Corridor Analysis

This week was a look at something totally new for me in the GIS applications realm, least-cost paths and corridor analysis. The lab consisted of two parts. The first section was creating a least-cost path based off of one raster input, then two then three. I used the Cost Distance Tool, Cost Path Tool, and Plus Tool in the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Toolbox to create the paths. I assigned a cost to each cell in each raster dataset using the Reclassify Tool. I do not feel as confident about this section as I have about other applications so I think a little more practice will be in order.

The second part of the lab used the same tools to model a movement corridor for black bears based off of three input rasters. The input data were elevation, landcover, and roads. After reclassifying these layers to assign a cost value to each cell I used the Weighted Overlay Tool to combine the three with the landcover weighted higher than the other two. Then I had to invert the costs so I used the Minus Tool to accomplish the task. Once the cost surface was complete I ran the Cost Distance Tool for both of the National Forests pictured in the graphic below. I used the resulting cost rasters to run the Corridor Tool to identify the most suitable corridor for the black bear. My final results are pictured below.

Black Bear Corridor