Spatial Decision Support System

The aim of the research was to monitor and assess landslide hazards by remote sensing data processing and GIS spatial analysis. The automatic classification of remote sensing images provides many useful land use information to combine in a GIS environment with other spatial factors influencing the occurrence of landslide. The upper part of Susa Valley, in the Italian Western Alps, was chosen as test area because of a large variety of remote sensing data available by ISPRS WG VIII/2 with the aim to exchange information and experience in the field of geomatic techniques. It is well known that the occurrence of landslides is controlled by a lot of morphological, geological, and human factors. We have chosen, regarding the available data, the following factors: acclivity, aspect, lithology, land use and precipitations. We have built up a mathematical predictive model enabling actual/potential unstable slopes. It is a linear model where the hazard score depends on instability factors and...

Based on the concept of border permeability defined at the level of the EU25 border (Stephenne and Pesaresi 2006), this study extents the previous spatial decision support system (SDSS) framework toward a more general "accessibility" indicator that could be further used in various spatial analysis of security issues. This paper uses the permeability approach in a two scales application (continental and local): generalization and simplification of model assumption at the European level, and model focalization at fine scale using very high resolution (VHR) imagery. The technical specifications of these downscaling and upscaling applications are described.

Abstract: Landfill selection in an urban area is a critical issue in the urban planning process because of its enormous impact on the economy, ecology and the environmental health of the region. With the growth of urbanization as well as the desire to live in cities, lager ...

A spatial decision support system (SDSS) based on multi-criteria and multi-objective decision analysis is applied in a case study in Ethiopia to reduce soil erosion on the basis of reallocation of crops according to their capacity to protect the soil. The case study is carried out in the Adwa district. The SDSS has been implemented using the widespread GIS software IDRISI 32 (release 2) and with the direct involvement of local stakeholders in defining factors and constraints. These are based on land cover-land use, altitude, potential erosion, proximity to roads, water and the relative soil protective capacity of each crop species. A reduction of soil loss from an average of 4.5 t ha−1 yr−1 to values below the risk threshold of soil degradation (1 t ha−1 yr−1) would be achieved through the application of the SDSS results. The biggest impediment to the reallocation exercise, however, is the shortage of cultivable land suitable for cultivation.

This paper is reporting on a research project undertaken jointly between the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the NSW Department of Housing (DoH) to develop a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) to assist planning, management and evaluation in areas of high public housing concentration. In the paper we will describe the development of the SDSS, the specific spatial problems challenging the DoH and the potential for the system to incorporate a range of social, financial and physical data, both internal and from other sources, for interaction and presentation in a three dimensional environment. The prototype SDSS attempts to address the specific challenges of providing better service for clients of the DoH. An information audit and survey has been conducted of the department’s resources and needs. Issues identified include the management of high-rise and superlot areas, crime mapping, community interactivity, internal and intergovernmental information sharing, interoperabil...

Internet, a client/server system, is a perfect means of GIS data accessing, analyzing and transmission. The World Wide Web, FTP (file transfer protocol) and HTTP programs make it convenient to access and transfer data files across the Internet. Using Internet for GIS makes it easy access to acquire GIS data from diverse data sources in the distributed environment. The geospatial multicriteria decision analysis in a client/server environment is an important and challenging task for the GIS community because of narrow Internet bandwidth for large geospatial data sets. In the present paper, we are developing a multicriteria decision analysis tool for spatial decision making in the web GIS environment. The developed system has been demonstrated for biodiversity conservation and priorities. An attempt has been made to generate the alternative decisions based on priority vectors. The multicriteria technique of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to derive the eigen vectors with the given multiple constraints of conflicting criteria and aims at selecting optimal alternative from the available sets. However, the evaluation recognizes the importance of expert knowledge when assigning the weights for the best spatial priorities. Comparing within classes and alternatives using judgment and decision matrix is based on Saaty’s Pairwise Comparison. The Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System (MC-SDSS) software development uses ASP, ArcIMS 9.0, ArcSDE9.0 and Oracle 9i data server in the web GIS environment. The database organization of spatial and non-spatial data is done in the RDBMS environment using ArcSDE and Oracle 9i data server.

Abstract: The impact of livestock grazing on water quality, especially erosion and sedimentation, is an important concern in the southwestern United States. In response to Federal and State regulations, Best Management Practices (BMPs) for rangeland ...

Background During a mass casualty incident, evacuation of patients to the appropriate health care facility is critical to survival. Despite this, no existing system provides the evidence required to make informed evacuation decisions from the scene of the incident. To mitigate this absence and enable more informed decision making, a web based spatial decision support system (SDSS) was developed. This system supports decision making by providing data regarding hospital proximity, capacity, and treatment specializations to decision makers at the scene of the incident. Methods This web-based SDSS utilizes pre-calculated driving times to estimate the actual driving time to each hospital within the inclusive trauma system of the large metropolitan region within which it is situated. In calculating and displaying its results, the model incorporates both road network and hospital data (e.g. capacity, treatment specialties, etc.), and produces results in a matter of seconds, as is required in a MCI situation. In addition, its application interface allows the user to map the incident location and assists in the execution of triage decisions. Results Upon running the model, driving time from the MCI location to the surrounding hospitals is quickly displayed alongside information regarding hospital capacity and capability, thereby assisting the user in the decision-making process. Conclusions The use of SDSS in the prioritization of MCI evacuation decision making is potentially valuable in cases of mass casualty. The key to this model is the utilization of pre-calculated driving times from each hospital in the region to each point on the road network. The incorporation of real-time traffic and hospital capacity data would further improve this model.

Symbols play an important role in identifying informative objects and are widely used in geo-spatial decision support systems and applications. In high level fusion applications, however, simply placing symbols often lead to information overload problem; symbols quickly grow fast in many applications, such as the post disaster monitoring system we are interested in. This leads to cluttered and overlapped icons. With today’s advanced technologies, new visual effects can lead to better visualization systems where iconic overload may be perceived as a problem. Therefore, conventional method of storage-indexing-retrieval of large sets of prepared icon images is not flexible enough for the visualization of higher fusion levels. Instead, we propose a dynamic symbology, which automatically generates symbols from parameterized components in a three-dimensional space. The extension to tactical graphics can provide better situation awareness from simplified and abstract visualization. We also...

3 Abstract: The overlay functions in GIS are well known and often needed tools for integrating different factors and generating useful information for decision makers. Both the integration model and the generated information usually rely on crisp set theory. In many cases, either the boundaries of classes are not clearly defined, or the classification of a feature into a class

Tools that incorporate information from different disciplines can greatly assist policy development of today's complex and interconnected issues and result in more informed decision-making. Over the past years the councils of the Waikato region in New Zealand have, in collaboration with several research organisations, developed an Integrated Spatial Decision Support System (ISDSS). The ISDSS forms part of an overall process that links qualitative scenarios and deliberative methods to quantitative systems modeling. The aim of the ISDSS tool is to: (1) inform strategic planning; (2) communicate and inform stakeholders and community; (3) identify links between the economy, the environment and society, expose trade-offs and enable win-win situations; and (4) enhance local government capability and capacity. The ISDSS consists of a spatially explicit systems model operating at four scales: global, regional, district and local (200 m grid cells). The current temporal resolution is one...