A Spatial Decision Support System For Land Management

Abstract Multi-purpose Land Information System (MPLIS) is an integral tool for effective land management. The concept of MPLIS is well known in the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Land Information System (LIS) community for its versatile use for decision making in land management. Inaccessibility of required geographic data and difficulties in synthesizing various recommendations in LIS are main obstacles in spatial decision making. Studies have shown that the quality of decisions can be improved by using an integrated systems approach, such as a spatial decision support system (SDSS). In this paper, we present an SDSS for community-wide enterprises. The system is developed under the GIS software tool, SPANS (Spatial Analysis System) and ArcView, and the system is run in Microsoft Windows operating system. The system is tested and implemented successfully in the chosen study area of Hooghly District of West Bengal, India.