Environmental applications have long been a core use of GIS. However, the effectiveness of GIS-based methods depends on the decision-making frameworks and contexts within which they are employed. GIS for Environmental Decision-Making takes an interdisciplinary look at the capacities of GIS to integrate, analyze, and display data on which decisions must be based. It provides a broad prospective on the current state of GIS for environmental decision-making and emphasizes the importance of matters related to data, analysis, and modeling tools, as well as stakeholder participation.

The book is divided into three sections, which effectively relate to three key aspects of the decision-making process as supported by GIS: data required, tools being developed, and aspects of participation. The first section stresses the ability to integrate data from different sources as a defining characteristic of GIS and illustrates the benefits that this can bring in the context of deriving land-use and other information. The second section discusses a range of issues concerning the use of GIS for suitability mapping and strategic planning exercises, through illustrative examples. The last section of the book focuses on the use of GIS-based techniques to facilitate public participation in decision-making processes. In particular, it provides an overview of developments in this area, concentrating on how GIS, modeling, and 3D landscape visualization techniques are gradually achieving closer integration.

Given the complex challenges presented by global environmental change, GIS for Environmental Decision-Making provides a clear illustration of how the use of GIS can make significant contributions to trans-disciplinary initiatives to address environmental problems.Developments in GIS for Environmental Decision-Making
Lovett and Appleton

PART I - DATA FOR DECISION-MAKING
An Optimised Semi-Automated Methodology for Populating a National Land?Use Dataset
Tompkinson, Morton, Gomm and Seaman

A New Framework for Feature-Based Digital Mapping in Three-Dimensional Space
Slingsby, Longley and Parker

From Electronic Logbooks to Sustainable Marine Environments: A GIS to Support the Common Fisheries Policy
Whalley and Kemp

PART II - TOOLS TO SUPPORT DECISION-MAKING
GIS and Environmental Decision-Making: From Sites to Strategies and Back Again
MacFarlane and Dunsford

Creating a Digital Representation of the Water Table in a Sandstone Aquifer
Posen, Lovett, Hiscock, Reid, Evers and Ward

GIS and Predictive Modelling: A Comparison of Methods for Forest Management and Decision Making
Felic¿mo and G¿mez-Mu¿oz

A Comparison of Two Techniques for Local Land-Use Change Simulation in the Swiss Mountain Area
Walz, Bebi and Purves

'Riding an Elephant to Catch a Grasshopper': Applying and Evaluating Techniques for Stakeholder Participation in Land-Use Planning within the Kae Watershed, Northern Thailand
Shutidamrong and Lovett

Grid-Enabled GIS: Opportunities and Challenges
Jarvis

PART III - PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING
Developments in Public Participation and Collaborative Environmental Decision-Making
Bishop

Using Virtual Reality to Simulate Coastal Erosion: A Participative Decision Tool?
Brown, Jude, Koukoulas, Nicholls, Dickson and Walkden

Multiple Windows on Accessibility: An Evaluation of Campus Buildings by Mobility Impaired and Able-Bodied Participants using PPGIS
Castle and Jarvis

Visualisation Techniques to Support Planning of Renewable Energy Developments
Miller, Morrice, Coleby and Messager

The Social Implications of Developing a Web-GIS: Observations from Studies in Rural Bavaria
Herrmann and Neumeier