The application of advanced information technology in assessing environmental impacts

Although many advanced information technologies are potentially of value to environmental impact assessment, this chapter focuses on those generally included under the term geographic information technologies, including geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and the global positioning system (GPS). The chapter begins with a brief description of each of these, and a more detailed review of the state of development of GIS, its current capabilities, and impediments to greater use. Problems having to do with the integration of the geographic information technologies, and the raster and vector approaches to GIS, are discussed in the context of non-point-source pollution in the vadose zone, and attention is drawn to current research on advanced geographic data models, which may hold the key to further progress in integration.