I have a large number shapefiles representing areas of interest for an analysis that will be conducted using various sources of satellite imagery (IKONOS, RapidEye, etc.). Unfortunately, the imagery doesn't use a pathrow system like Landsat for example, so the extents vary greatly.
I have shapefiles clipped to each AOI representing the extents of different imagery acquisitions, all of which have already been deemed acceptable. Some of these shapefiles have 500 or more polygons.
I need to find an approach, preferably one that can be automated (Python and ArcInfo 10 preferably, FOSS would be acceptable as well) to determine the fewest number of polygons to cover each of my areas of interest.