Spatial Decision Support Systems : Principles and Practices

Although interest in Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) continues to grow rapidly in a wide range of disciplines, students, planners, managers, and the research community have lacked a book that covers the fundamentals of SDSS along with the advanced design concepts required for building SDSS.

Filling this need, Spatial Decision Support Systems: Principles and Practices provides a comprehensive examination of the various aspects of SDSS evolution, components, architecture, and implementation. It integrates research from a variety of disciplines, including the geosciences, to supply a complete overview of SDSS technologies and their application from an interdisciplinary perspective.

This groundbreaking reference provides thorough coverage of the roots of SDSS. It explains the core principles of SDSS, how to use them in various decision making contexts, and how to design and develop them using readily available enabling technologies and commercial tools. The book consists of four major parts, each addressing different topic areas in SDSS:

1. Presents an introduction to SDSS and the evolution of SDSS
2. Covers the essential and optional components of SDSS
3. Focuses on the design and implementation of SDSS
4. Reviews SDSS applications from various domains and disciplines―investigating current challenges and future directions

The text includes numerous detailed case studies, example applications, and methods for tailoring SDSS to your work environment. It also integrates sample code segments throughout. Addressing the technical and organizational challenges that affect the success or failure of SDSS, the book concludes by considering future directions of this rapidly emerging field of study.

Dr. Ramanathan Sugumaran is Professor of Geography and Director of GeoTREE Center at the University of Northern Iowa. He has over nineteen years of research experience in remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and spatial decision support systems (SDSS) with applications for natural resources and environmental planning and management.

Dr. Sugumaran has served as PI or Co-PI on over $5 million worth of research grants funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Raytheon Corp., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He has also published numerous journal articles and presented more than one hundred papers at national and international conferences. Dr. Sugumaran has two PhDs―a PhD in geography from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and one from the University of Baroda, India. For the past ten years, he has developed and taught several courses and advised more than twenty students on their masters theses. Dr. Sugumaran has also been a recipient of several academic awards that include the outstanding graduate faculty teaching award, Outstanding Scholar award, and Veridian Community Engagement Award.

John DeGroote is a GeoInformatics Scientist at the GeoTREE Center at the University of Northern Iowa. He has been actively applying geospatial technologies for environmental and natural resource applications for nine years. He has experience working on a wide range of issues with a diverse set of investigators including hydrologists, soil scientists, ecologists, and economists. He has extensive experience in developing custom GIS and SDSS applications, using programming and database development, for use by researchers and environmental managers. John has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles concerning the use of geospatial technologies for a variety of application domains. He has also presented research at numerous national and international conferences.