Run
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Input the map of the area of interest in the "Input Map" field and select the identification column (e.g. name of the area) in the attribute table of the map (field “Select polygon identificator column”). In the case of the input map contains more than one polygon (e.g. multiple protected areas or areas of interest) the program will run a similar buffer analysis for each area and print the requested metrics according to the identification column specified. The input map must be a shapefile map in which each feature is a polygon.
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Input the variable of interest (the response variable of the buffer analysis, e.g. forest cover area). This must be a shapefile map.
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Set the minimum size of the buffer steps (field “Scale”). The unit here is the same of your map projection; therefore, we strongly recommend using map projections in which distances are measured in meters, such as UTM, Polyconic, Lambert, and Albers, and avoid using geographic projections.
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Set how many buffers you want to run (field “Number of buffers”).
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Choose the metrics you want to calculate (area, count, functional area). See the description of the metrics here.
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Define whether you want to keep the buffer maps saved; they will be saved in an ArcGIS geodatabse called “output_buffer_maps.gdb”.
If this option is selected, one map for each buffer size will be saved, named “name_output_ID_variable_interest_inside_donut_buffer”. The “name_output” in the name of the map is defined by the user (see below); the ID corresponds to the name of the area (extracted from the identification column in the input map attribute table); and the variable_interest will be replaced by the name of the variable of interest selected.
*WARNING: If you re-run a buffer analysis choosing the same Output folder, the maps will be replaced. Take care!
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Name your output .txt file (field “Set prefix name for output txt”).*
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Set the path for the output folder where text files and maps will be saved.
- Click "OK" to run.
