A land evaluation decision support system (MicroLEIS DSS) for agricultural soil protection: With special reference to the Mediterranean region

Soil protection requires the improvement of agricultural land use, its planning and its management, in order to achieve a sustainable development. Land evaluation analysis is considered an interface between land resources survey and land use planning and management. The application of information and communication technology has exerted an impact on sustainable land use decision support. Since the early 1990s and following this trend, MicroLEIS (Mediterranean Land Evaluation Information System) has evolved towards an agro-ecological decision support system. The original project corresponds to a set of qualitative land evaluation methods converted to PC computer programs to automate their application. Today, MicroLEIS DSS is a set of useful tools for decision-making which in a wide range of agro-ecological schemes. The design philosophy follows a toolkit approach, integrating many software tools: databases, statistics, expert systems, neural networks, Web and GIS applications, and other information technologies. The MicroLEIS DSS system, in English and Spanish simultaneously, is available ready-for-use from the following website address: www.microleis.com. The new, re-designed MicroLEIS DSS will provide considerable opportunities for greater cooperation in interdisciplinary research and in the application of knowledge to solve problems of soil protection. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[1]  Diego de la Rosa,et al.  A multilingual soil profile database (SDBm Plus) as an essential part of land resources information systems , 2002, Environ. Model. Softw..

[2]  D. Rossiter BIOPHYSICAL MODELS IN LAND EVALUATION , 2003 .

[3]  M. Mausbach,et al.  Soil Quality: A Concept, Definition, and Framework for Evaluation (A Guest Editorial) , 1997 .

[4]  D. Rossiter A theoretical framework for land evaluation , 1996 .

[5]  James T. Luxhoj Neural Networks in Bioprocessing and Chemical Engineering , 1997 .

[6]  C. A. Diepen,et al.  Qualitative and quantitative land evaluations , 2002 .

[7]  James C. Ascough,et al.  Computer use in agriculture: an analysis of Great Plains producers☆ , 1999 .

[8]  R. J. Wagenet,et al.  Using expert systems and simulation modelling for land evaluation at farm level: a case study from New York state , 1993 .

[9]  M. Tallini,et al.  Total sediment transport by the rivers of Abruzzi (Central Italy): prediction with the RAIZAL model , 2002 .

[10]  Diego de la Rosa,et al.  RELATION OF SEVERAL PEDOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS TO ENGINEERING QUALITIES OF SOIL , 1979 .

[11]  Christer Carlsson,et al.  Past, present, and future of decision support technology , 2002, Decis. Support Syst..

[12]  A. Young,et al.  Soil Survey and Land Evaluation. , 1982 .

[13]  P. M. Driessen,et al.  Land-use systems analysis , 1992 .

[14]  Joep Crompvoets,et al.  Agroclimatic change and european soil suitability , 1996 .

[15]  D. A. Davidson,et al.  A Land Evaluation Project in Greece Using GIS and Based on Boolean and Fuzzy Set Methodologies , 1996, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[16]  J. Walker,et al.  Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook , 1984 .

[17]  G. Fisher,et al.  Land Capability Classification for Agriculture , 1982 .

[18]  D. D. L. Rosa,et al.  An expert system/neural network model (ImpelERO) for evaluating agricultural soil erosion in Andalucia region, southern Spain , 1999 .

[19]  James W. Jones,et al.  The DSSAT cropping system model , 2003 .

[20]  J. Antoine Linking Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and FAO's Agro-Ecological Zone (AEZ) models for land resource appraisal , 1994 .

[21]  Kenneth R. Olson,et al.  Use of multiple regression analysis to estimate average corn yields using selected soils and climatic data , 1986 .

[22]  David G. Rossiter ALES: a framework for land evaluation using a microcomputer , 1990 .

[23]  W. H. Wischmeier,et al.  Predicting rainfall-erosion losses from cropland east of the Rocky Mountains , 1965 .

[24]  Rainer Horn,et al.  Prognose der mechanischen Belastbarkeit und der auflastabhängigen Änderung des Lufthaushaltes in Ackerböden anhand von Bodenkarten , 2002 .

[25]  Iver Thysen,et al.  Agriculture in the Information Society. , 2000 .

[26]  Diego de la Rosa,et al.  Assessment of soil erosion vulnerability in western Europe and potential impact on crop productivity due to loss of soil depth using the ImpelERO model , 2000 .

[27]  Diego de la Rosa,et al.  MicroLEIS: A microcomputer‐based Mediterranean land evaluation information system , 1992 .

[28]  J. Moreno,et al.  Expert Evaluation System for Assessing Field Vulnerability to Agrochemical Compounds in Mediterranean Regions , 1993 .

[29]  H. Lanen,et al.  Qualitative and quantitative physical land evaluation : an operational approach , 1991 .

[30]  William G. Booty,et al.  Design and implementation of an environmental decision support system , 2001, Environ. Model. Softw..

[31]  R. Brink,et al.  A framework for land evaluation , 1977 .

[32]  A. Navas,et al.  Assessing erosion risks in the gypsiferous steppe of Litigio (NE Spain). An approach using GIS , 1997 .

[33]  Johan Bouma,et al.  Land Evaluation for Landscape Units , 2018, Handbook of Soil Sciences (Two Volume Set).