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—Donna Knifong, USGS
In 1999 the Snow Cover Comparison Tool, an AML (ARC Macro Language) geoprocessing script, was developed to process and visualize snow cover from both observed and synthetic, or modeled, data using the ArcInfo Workstation module. Ten years later, the underlying GIS software and data models have changed significantly. This has led to the need for updating and converting the AML script to a Python script. This was not as straight forward or easy as first assumed due to increased functionality in some areas (raster processing) and decreased functionality in others (cartographic output). The learning curve was also impacted by the need to convert a script written for a procedural programming language to an object-oriented language. This talk will discuss the problems encountered, solutions that were developed, and how ArcGIS may resolve the inability of ArcGIS 9.3 to create cartographic output through Python scripting.