EMDS

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General System description

System name: Ecosystem Management Decision Support

Acronym: EMDS

Brief overview

The Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system is a general solution framework for knowledge-based decision support of ecological assessments at any geographical scale.

Scope of the system

The system provides decision support for landscape-level analyses through logic and decision engines integrated with the ArcGIS geographic information system. The NetWeaver logic engine evaluates landscape data against a formal logic specification designed in the NetWeaver Developer system, to derive logic-based interpretations of ecosystem conditions. The decision engine evaluates NetWeaver outcomes, and data related to the feasibility and efficacy of land management actions, against a decision model for prioritizing landscape features built with its development system, Criterium DecisionPlus. CDP models implement the analytical hierarchy process, the simple multi-attribute rating technique, or a combination of the two methods. The system has been used in a high variety of applications^[1].

System origin

• EMDS was initially developed by the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service under the direction of Dr. Keith M Reynolds (Pacific Northwest Research Station).
• Through version 3, the system was developed by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) under federal government contract.
• EMDS development is now maintained by a private, non-profit development consortium hosted by the Redlands Institute. The core of EMDS remains in the public domain, but commercial products are used in conjunction with EMDS to support model development (see Related systems).
• There are numerous real-life applications of the system. Visit the EMDS page on Wikipedia for a list of EMDS applications and associated publications.

Support for specific issues

EMDS is a general solution framework, designed to support a wide variety of applications at any, or multiple spatial scales.

Support for specific thematic areas of a problem type

Typical areas of application include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Silviculture
• Certification
• Conservation
• Restoration
• Transportation
• Development choices / land use zoning
• Policy/intervention alternatives
• Sustainability impact assessment (SIA)

Capability to support decision making phases

• Design. User-designed logic models are used to assess the state of a system (e.g., watershed condition or wildfire potential).
• Choice. User-desigend decision models are used to set priorities for management activities among landscape elements.
• Monitor. The specifications of the logic and decision models collectively define the monitoring requirements needed to support a decision process.
• Repeated application of a logic model over time can be used to support change detection and plan performance.

Related systems

EMDS is an extension to ArcMap, and is also available in a stand-alone edition built on ArcEngine.

The system uses the logic engine of NetWeaver Developer, which is a knowledge-based decision-support system for logic-based inference. NetWeaver Developer is used to design the logic models used by EMDS.

The system also uses the decision engine of Criterium DecisionPlus, which implements the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART) to support resource allocation decisions. CDP is used to design the decision models used by EMDS.

Projects are stored as either SQL Server of Microsoft Access databases, and spatial data are stored in ArcGIS file geodatabases.

Data and data models

Typical spatial extent of application

Spatial scale of an EMDS application is user defined, and with multiple scale interaction (projects can accommodate multiple scales of potentially linked assessments).

Forest data input

Data inputs are user defined. Data may represent biophysical, social, economic, or political attributes of a landscape unit.

Units of observation may be forests, stands, points (e.g., individual tree), lines (e.g., roads and streams), or any other GIS (vector) feature class (e.g., region, province, ecotype, etc.).

Raster data sets are not currently supported.

Type of information input from user (via GUI)

The user specifies what GIS layers are to be included in a specific assessment, and which logic and decision models are to be run against the specified set of layers.

Data provided to logic models can be edited "on the fly" by users in scenarios.

Both the logic and decision components of the system attempt to automatically match attribute field names from the input layers to model data-input fields. Dialog windows in each component present the resulting field mapping to the user for verification and, if necessary, editing.

Models

All logic and decision models used by the system are user defined.

Logic models are designed in NetWeaver Developer.

Decision models are designed in Criterium DecisionPlus.

Decision Support

Typical temporal scale of application

• Operational planning (least common)
• Tactical planning
• Strategic planning (most common)

Types of decisions supported

• Management level
  • strategic decisions
  • administrative decisions
  • operating control decisions
• Management function
• planning decisions
  • organizing decisions
  • command decisions
  • control decisions
  • coordination decisions
• decision making situation
  • unilateral
  • collegial
  • Bargaining / participative decision making

Decision-making processes and models

• Logic modeling
• Multiple criteria/ranking

Output

Types of outputs

• Maps
• Graphs
• Tables

Spatial analysis capabilities

• The full geoprocessing capabilities of ArcMap are available in the ArcMap edition of EMDS.
• A limited set of geoprocessing features needed to support the basic functionality of the system (e.g., overlays) are available in the stand-alone edition of EMDS.

Abilities to address interdisciplinary, multi-scaled, and political issues

• Evaluate interactions between different basic information types (biophysical, economic, social).
• Produce coordinated results for decision makers operating at different spatial scales.
• Facilitate social negotiation and learning.

System

System requirements

• Operating Systems: Windows (XP, Vista, and Win7)
• Other software needed
  • ArcMap for the ArcMap edition or ArcEngine for the standalone edition.
  • NetWeaver Developer
  • Criterium DecisionPlus
• Development status: version 4.1 released in December 2009.

Usage

• Federal and university research
• Federal, provincial, and local government
• Non-governmental organizations (e.g., conservation organizations)

Computational limitations

Output tables from logic models are limited to 4096 fields.

Number of records is only limited by user hardware.

User interface

The user interface in the stand-alone edition is highly intuitive and implements the Microsoft Windows workflow paradigm (e.g., tabs and ribbons). The user interface in the ArcMap edition is somewhat more abstract, but likely not a problem for users accustomed to ArcMap.

Documentation and support

The system includes an online help system and detailed tutorials.

Additional support can be obtained from the user forum .

Installation and training

• Prerequisite knowledge. Three levels of prerequisite knowledge can be distinguished for using the system:
  • Basic. User only needs to know how to use an application that is already built. Training time for this level is less than one hour.
  • Intermediate. Logic and decision models already exist for the project, but the application needs to be assembled. Training time for this level is about three hours, assuming the user has GIS technical support available.
  • Advanced. An application is to be built from scratch, starting with design of logic and decision models. Training time for this level requires about two days to achieve basic competency in the overall process.
• Cost:
  • The EMDS core currently is free, and there is no runtime licensing requirement for the logic and decision engines.
  • Contact Rules of Thumb for pricing on NetWeaver Developer.
  • Contact InfoHarvest for pricing on Criterium DecisionPlus.
• Trial versions of the commercial products:
  • Criterium DecisionPlus is available in a fully functional student version (maxiumum model size is limited to 20 objects).
  • NetWeaver Developer is distributed as fully functional "annoyance-ware."

References

Please visit the EMDS page on Wikipedia for a list of EMDS applications and associated publications.

Cited references

1. ↑ REYNOLDS, K.M., M. TWERY, M.J. LEXER, H. VACIK, D. RAY, G. SHAO et J.G. BORGES (2008): Decision Support Systems in Forest Management. In BURSTEIN, F. et C. W. HOLSAPPLE (Eds.): Handbook on Decision Support Systems 2: Variations. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp 499-533.

External resources

EMDS web site