| The upsurge of interest in watershed management and planning has increased the need for user friendly, interactive methods that decision makers can use to evaluate the economic and environmental consequences of alternative land use/management practices (LUMPs). Emerging computer technologies including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing and expert systems, are needed to effectively analyze different components of a landscape and their interactions. Knowledge and information from several disciplines are integrated into a functional computer-based watershed management decision support system (WAMADSS).;WAMADSS consists of three components: (1) a GIS, (2) an economic model, and (3) an environmental simulation model. The three components are accessed through a graphical user interface which enables decision makers to generate scenarios, change LUMPs, run the Cost and Returns Estimator (CARE) program and the Agricultural Non-Point-Source (AGNPS) pollution model, and view results of these models within a GIS. The technical expertise required to manipulate the spatial and non-spatial data is imbedded in WAMADSS. |
