Bibliogr. - índices

The significance of modelling in managing the environment is well recognised from scientific and engineering perspectives as well as in the political arena. Environmental concerns and issues of sustainability have permeated both public and private sectors, particularly the need to predict, assess and mitigate against adverse impacts that arise from continuing development and use of resources. Environmental modelling is an inherently spatial activity well suited to taking advantage of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) functionality whether this be modelling aspects of the environment within GIS or linked to external simulation models. In doing so, a number of issues become important: environmental models need to consider space-time processes often in three-dimensions whereas GIS are largely two-dimensional and static; environmental models are often computational simulations, as distinct from cartographic modelling and map algebra in GIS; what should be the degree of integration between GIS and environmental models on any project; how does uncertainty in spatial data from GIS and the choices of parameterisation in environmental models combine and propagate through analyses to affect outputs; by what means can decisions be made with uncertain information.