Abstract: Natural Environmental-Information and Impact-Assessment System

Peter G. Rowe, Joel L. Gevirtz, Phil Weichert

Because of mounting concern over the effects of land-use activities on natural systems, objective strategies are increasingly necessary to assess possible impacts prior to development. It is essential not only to have a functional understanding of the relation between land uses and their natural settings but also to be able to present the results of this understanding in a manner that reflects the operating conditions of public decision making.

A natural environmental-information and impact-assessment system has been developed to provide local decision makers with ready access to environmental data and to allow them to explore the environmental consequences of development activities. This system, operational on the Rice University Computer facility, currently serves Chambers County, Texas. The system consists of three major elements: (1) a natural environmental data base, (2) a data storage-retrieval and display capability, and (3) an impact-assessment routine. Interaction between the user and the system is conducted entirely in an on-line conversational mode.

The data base is coded in the form of 3,200 uniform rectangular grid cells referenced to the latitude-longitude coordinate system. Each cell contains data describing 83 natural environmental variables. The system's storage-retrieval and display capabilities allow the user to update the data base, to retrieve information, and to perform fundamental data-processing functions. Maps can be produced showing the spatial distribution of various natural features.

The impact-assessment routine was developed in the form of 26 submodels each describing the relation between eight major land-use categories and particular aspects of the natural system. In terms of information flow, a proposed development, described in terms of its constituent land uses, first is evaluated with respect to characteristics of the proposed site to determine the existence of natural or man-made encumberances. The land uses then are described in terms of their input into the natural system. Depending upon the type of input a particular sequence of evaluations is performed, in conjunction with the data base, to estimate the magnitude of the impacts created. The results of this assessment then are displayed in the form of a brief narrative report.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90967©1977 GCAGS and GC Section SEPM 27th Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas