Looking for a more effcient process for retrieving information

Question

Using ArcGIS Desktop Standard 10.2.

Need to retrieve specific information from multiple (10+) feature classes that are adjacent to/overlap/ or in close proximity to specific areas of interest (polygons).

Currently using 'Identify Features' from the basic toolbar, drawing a polygon around the area of interest and then filtering through the attributes of the features that are returned. Then the specific information that is needed is written down on a template form and later summarized in a formal report.

This is very tedious and time consuming considering the large backlog of these areas of interest. Need a tool or script that would autorun these areas of interest against a select group of feature classes and output a report with the information I am looking for. Tried the 'Intersect' tool but the license level only allows 2 input feature classes. Do not have access to Spatial Analyst tools with a Standard license.

Does such a tool or script exist? Is there a more efficient alternative?

Answer 1

What do you do when more than one feature is selected from one of the layers that intersects the polygon feature you traced? Is it summarized, listed, etc. A model that performs successive Spatial Joins that use the Keep all Features Option and the One to One Option with the appropriate summary (sum, count, min, max, list, etc.) is one possibility. Those two settings should create one original polygon with the summarized attributes of all the features it intersected. The One to Many option for the Spatial Join would get out of control if you used it with more than one intersecting layer, since it could duplicate the feature exponentially if used repeatedly.

A python script that creates dictionaries of all of the feature classes you need to intersect is a possibility, but normally that approach works better where the dictionary key simulates an attribute join or relate rather than a spatial association. You still have to define what you want to do if multiple features are intersected with that approach as well and you become responsible to create all of the looping logic the script will apply, since that is custom to your particular data and analysis objectives.