INTEGRATION OF SYSTEM DYNAMICS MODELS AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The problem of integration of temporal models and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) involves theoretical and technical aspects. Many GIS applications are advertised in terms of their modeling capability but such modeling tools are often unable to handle full integration of spatial and dynamic processes. This paper, however, presents new software, SimArc, able to interface a System Dynamics tool, Simile, and a GIS environment (E.S.R.I. ArcView). The tool enables users to link a model to input data from the GIS database, creating new GIS layers from any selected output variable of Simile model.