Decision Support Systems

A Decision Support System (DSS) can be defined in many ways. The working definition the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) uses is, "A spatially based computer application or data that assists a researcher or manager in making decisions." This is quite a broad definition and it needs to be, as the possibilities for types of DSS are limited only by the user group and the developer's imagination. There is no one DSS; they are as diverse as the problems they help solve. This diversity requires that DSSs are built in a variety of ways using the most appropriate methods and tools for the individual application. The skills of potential DSS users vary widely as well, further necessitating multiple approaches to DSS development. Some small, highly trained user groups may want a powerful modeling tool with extensive functionality at the expense of ease of use. Other user groups less familiar with geographic information system (GIS) and spatial data may want an extremely easy to use application for a wide public or otherwise nontechnical audience. The UMESC DSS developers offer our partners a wide variety of technical skills and development options, ranging from the most simple Web page or small application to complex modeling application development.

Types of DSS Tools

The GIS tools fall into one of two categories: general purpose or specific purpose. General-purpose GIS tools are programs such as ARC/INFO and ArcView that have extensive functionality and can be difficult for users unfamiliar with GIS and cartographic principles to learn. Specific-purpose GIS tools are programs that are written by a GIS programmer to provide a user group with specific functions in an easy-to-use package. In the past, specific-purpose GIS tools were written primarily using a macro language such as Avenue (ArcView's macro language) or AML (ARC/INFO's macro language). This method of delivering specific-purpose GIS tools requires that each user have a copy of the host program (ARC/INFO or ArcView) to run the macro language application. The GIS programmers now have a far richer set of tools for application development. Programming libraries with classes for interactive mapping and spatial analysis functions have made it possible to develop specific-purpose GIS tools using industry-standard programming languages that can be compiled and run without a host program (stand-alone). Internet development tools have matured as well, making it possible to develop fairly complex GIS-based programs that users can use through the World Wide Web. The UMESC programmers make extensive use of these development tools and actively search out new and emerging tools and techniques to get the right product in the hands of the decision makers at the right time.

Point of Contact	Project Title
Jason Rohweder	Anticipated Effects of Development on Habitat Fragmentation and Movement of Mammals Into and Out of the Schoodic District, Acadia National Park, Maine

Most national parks interact with adjacent lands because their boundaries fail to encompass all regional habitats, species pools, and migration routes. Activities planned for adjacent lands can have adverse effects on park resources and visitor experiences. For example, fragmentation of adjacent habitat into smaller and more isolated remnants may influence the suitability of park habitat for a wide range of species and limit animal dispersal pathways, which may influence visitor experiences and park resources as well as the energy balance and population dynamics of the animals themselves.

Point of Contact	Project Title
Tim Fox	Curve Fit: A Pixel Level Raster Regression Tool

Curve Fit is an ArcMap 10.x tool that:

• performs pixel level regression analysis on a series of raster datasets
• is capable of calculating both linear and nonlinear regressions
• allows the user to constrain parameters for nonlinear models
• generates raster surfaces representing parameter estimate, model fit, and multi-model inference

• The Basic Raster Landscape Metrics Tools are new Arc Toolbox commands for ArcGIS
• Platform – ArcGIS 10
• The tools in this toolset require as input an integer GRID with the VALUE field representing the desired landscape class structure. Note: the input format MUST be GRID.  All other formats will cause the program to fail.
• Multiple landscape metrics are calculated and added as new fields to the attribute table of the output raster (the input raster is not modified).
• For the “Basic Raster Landscape Metrics by Class” tool, the output raster attribute table is organized by class structure (one row for each landscape class) and the calculated metrics are summarized by these classes.
• The metrics calculated for the “Basic Raster Landscape Metrics by Class” are:  “AREA”, “PERIMETER”, “PCT_LS” (Percent of Landscape), “NUM_PATCH” (Number of Patches), “AVE_P_AREA” (Mean Patch Area), “MIN_P_AREA” (Minimum Patch Area), “MAX_P_AREA” (Maximum Patch Area), “STD_DEV”, “SDI” (Simpson’s Modified Diversity Index), and “SHDI” (Shannon’s Diversity Index).
• For the “Basic Raster Landscape Metrics by Patch” tool, the output raster attribute table is organized by patch (one row for each landscape patch) and the calculated metrics are for an individual patch.
• The metrics calculated for the “Basic Raster Landscape Metrics by Patch” are:  “AREA”, “PERIMETER”, “THICKNESS” (Radius of largest circle which can fit in patch), “X_CENTROID”, “Y_CENTROID”, “MAJORAXIS” (Major (long) Axis of Ellipse fitting Patch), “MINORAXIS” (Minor (short) Axis of Ellipse fitting Patch), and “ORIENTATION” (Angle of Ellipse fitting Patch).

• The Edge Analysis Tool is a new Arc Toolbox command for ArcGIS
• Platform – ArcGIS 10
• This tool inputs a polygon “Edge” shapefile and a polygon “Area of Interest” shapefile and outputs a line shapefile in the outline of the “Area of Interest” with the edge attributes from the “Edge” shapefile.
• For example: a Land Cover polygon shapefile could be used as the “Edge” shapefile, the “Edge Field” is selected (a field from the Land Cover shapefile, e.g LCU_TYPE), and a Lake outline shapefile is entered as the “Area of Interest”. In this case the tool would output a Line shapefile which would be the outline of the lake, attributed with LCU_TYPE from the Land Cover shapefile. The user would then be able to see which Land Cover types bordered the lake, and the sum of their edge lengths.

• The Moving Window Point Analysis Tool is a new Arc Toolbox command for ArcGIS
• Platform – ArcGIS 10
• This tool allows users to identify sample points that are within neighborhoods (buffers) of focal points for multiple neighborhood sizes. This is the first procedural step in a number of geostatistical analyses (e.g. semivariance analysis, fractal analysis, lacunarity).
• The tool takes an input point shapefile and “moves” point by point, executing a series of buffers of user-defined sizes around each point. The tool counts the number of points which fall into each buffer and also sums the values of a user-provided “Count Field” (for instance, a count of organisms found at each site) for all points falling in that buffer. These calculations are stored in new fields added by the tool to a copy of the original shapefile.

• The development of this decision support tool gives USFWS resource managers the ability to make thoughtful and strategic choices about where to spend its limited management resources.
• This tool makes the processes used to prioritize these management units more transparent, improving the defensibility of management decisions.

• The Raster Split Tool is a new Arc Toolbox command for ArcGIS
• Requires ArcGIS 10 or above
• The tool takes an input shapefile, splits it using an attribute from a split shapefile and names the resulting output shapefiles based on that attribute . The tool then splits a raster using the output shapefiles as masks, and finally names the output rasters the same as the output shapefiles.
• This tool is intended to make splitting large rasters such as NLCD landcover into smaller pieces (counties, watersheds, etc…) an easy, automated process.

• The Percent Edge Tool is a customization of ArcMap that analyzes polygonal shapefiles.
• The Percent Edge Tool calculates area, compactness, perimeter, edge lengths with adjacent polygons, and percentage of edge with adjacent polygons.
• This information can then be summarized into a pivot table and queried.
  Example query: I want to know where are all of the large, compact, woody wetland polygons that share > 50% of their edge with emergent herbaceous wetlands.?

• The Adjacency For WinBUGS Tool is a customization of ArcMap.
• The tool iteratively processes each polygon within a selected layer and creates a text file of polygonal adjacency where each polygon is identified by a unique Adj_ID value.
• The output of this tool is used in WinBUGS (MRC Biostatistics Unit Cambridge) by the car.normal, car.l1, and mv.car conditional autoregressive distributions.

• The Split By Attribute Tool is a customization of ArcMap.
• The tool takes a single shapefile and splits it into many shapefiles based on the unique values of a chosen field.
• If the user has made a selection on a shapefile, then only those features that have been selected will be split.
• Each output layer will named with the following structure: user supplied base name + split value.

• The Census Stop Tool is a GIS tool that creates random points along a line layer while maintaining a minimum distance between points.
• The user has the option of selecting one of two random point placement methods.
• The Census Stop Tool is available as an ArcMap 9.x extension.
• This tool is designed to facilitate road based surveys by reducing the potential for double sampling.

Research: Maps, Models, and Tools for Bird Conservation Planning

• Allows managers and planners to rapidly assess landscape attributes and link these attributes with species/habitat information
• Provides resource managers a means to compare the conservation potential of local management units with that of the surrounding county, state, or region
• Can be applied to any taxa or suite of taxa and any landscape, given that spatial data layers representing habitats are available and species/habitat relationships can be defined
• Applicable to many types of wildlife conservation management and planning efforts
• Helps resource managers identify and prioritize those species and habitats most in need of management action
• ArcGIS platform
• Summary of the attributes of CCP GIS Tools and LINK , two GIS decision support tools designed for application to conservation planning

Research: Maps, Models, and Tools for Bird Conservation Planning

• Interactive mapping application displays and serves maps, data, and metadata over the internet
• Helps state and regional bird conservation planners rapidly assess land cover attributes over large areas (counties, states, regions) and link these attributes with bird information
• Analyzes land cover and Breeding Bird Survey data for the continental United States
• Creates breeding bird checklists for any location
• ArcIMS platform: GIS for the internet

• Models based upon coastal engineering equations have been developed to quantify wind fetch length and several physical wave characteristics including significant height, length, peak period, maximum orbital velocity, and shear stress
• These models, developed using Environmental Systems Research Institute’s ArcGIS 9.2 Geographic Information System platform, were used to quantify differences in proposed island construction designs for three Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District (Capoli Slough and Harpers Slough) and St. Louis District (Swan Lake)
• Weighted wind fetch was calculated using land cover data supplied by the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) for each island design scenario for all three HREPs
• A simplistic method for calculating sediment suspension probability was also applied to the HREPs in the St. Paul District
• Figures and graphs were created to depict the results of this analysis

• Statistical model to predict the probability of occurrence of submersed aquatic vegetation in Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River on the basis of a few hydrological, physical, and geomorphic variables
• Model takes into consideration flow velocity, wind fetch, bathymetry, growing-season daily water level, and light extinction coefficient in the river and calculates the probability of submersed aquatic vegetation
• Web link to an Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS Server website created at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center to make model predictions available online and interactive
• Ability to view the spatial data, measure linear distances, and identify features

• Collaboration between USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Acadia National Park, and USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
• Provides a more rigorous and comprehensive assessment of potential parcels to include in the ANP easement program using a landscape perspective
• Park has a legislatively authorized conservation easement program that has been used to provide additional protection to critically important private lands
• Park has used broad criteria to evaluate easements
  • Benefit for resource protection
  • Proximity of easement to park and other easements
• Developed within ArcMap 9.0 platform along with Spatial Analyst extension

Dabbling Duck Models

• Model waterfowl habitat for a scheduled Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project
• Environmental Systems Research Institute modeling software
• Scoping process
• Comparative analyses
• Alternative to Habitat Suitability Index models