Räumliche Entscheidungsfindung mit Hilfe raumbezogener Informationssysteme.

Abstract

The thesis describes how the decision process in a spatial application domain can be improved by an adequate use of geographical information. The aim is to examine the spatial concepts that allow modelling, formulating and mapping spatial-based decision preference on the example of forestry-relevant decision problems. The main motivation of this work lies in the increased importance of geographic information for solving spatial contradictory objectives.In the second half of the last century there was an enormous growth of the scientific issues in the spatial domain. Effective spatial decision-making belongs to the challenges in the use of geographic information and development of Geographic information systems (GIS) and the Geographic Information Science as well. Similarly to other disciplines, the particular specifics of spatial decision problems and their solving methods lead to the emergence of the sub-domain of the Decision theory. In spite of the growing recognition of the importance of spatial decision-making, an appropriate theoretical foundation of this scientific domain is still missing.Making spatial decisions means to model the geographic world by mental and formal models, evaluate the relevant elements from the point of view of the problem and order the alternative handling possibilities in order to select the best one. While GIScience research is oriented mainly to the appropriate modelling approaches satisfying the human understanding of the world, the decision theory (DT) refers primarily to the stage of mapping and ordering the subjective performance notation -preferences.In this work, large importance has been assigned to the spatial concepts of the relative position, such as topological, hierarchical, orientation and distance relations. The particular importance of the spatial relations lies in their abilities for mapping the spatial referred preference of the decision maker in order to help him to find the best possible solution for his decision problem. The models of topological, directional, distance and hierarchical relations, developed originally in various disciplines outside of GIScience such computer science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, mathematics and robotics, provide a wide base for the description of the relative position of geographical objects with each other.The spatial concepts used by the forest-planning paradigm are reviewed and their relevancy is discussed. Forestry as a 'social activity in which people interact with ecological processes to fulfil social goals' contains many complex decision problems with a broad participation interest. Recently, the combination of forest intrinsic and extrinsic paradigms, such as biodiversity preservation or landscape ecology paradigms, re-emphasises the need for a disinterested and unprejudiced decision making on forestry land use. The thesis, after reviewing the different spatial concepts included in forest planning paradigms, formulates many spatial decision situations and structures their elements. Primarily, the process of spatial concepts formulation and use is discussed; then a decision, site selecting for harvester use, has been chosen as a demonstrating example of spatial decision-making.