Gis-Based Support System for Tactical Timber Harvest Planning: Design and Development
The high costs of timber harvesting and forest road construction warrant extensive planning of harvest blocks and forest road network layout. The integration of these efforts in the overall management decision making process will result in more efficient timber harvesting operations. Traditionall...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2000
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10035/1/FH_2000_17_IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | The high costs of timber harvesting and forest road construction warrant extensive
planning of harvest blocks and forest road network layout. The integration of these efforts in
the overall management decision making process will result in more efficient timber
harvesting operations. Traditionally, harvest planners have relied in personal experience to
guide them through this planning process. However, the harvest planner may not be able to
utilize these traditional planning techniques when dealing with large areas due to the increased data demands of the planning process. This study describes a terrain classification
method and the development of a Decision Support System CDSS) known as "MERANTI"
for short-term harvest planning that combines the data handling, storage, and retrieval
advantages of a geographic information system with the decision modelling capabilities of
heuristic programming.
The terrain classification system characterizes the terrain of forested areas in eastern
part of Malaysia in terms of slope and ground conditions. The DSS consists of three major
components: the geographic information system, a library of decision models, and a graphics
interface. The geographic information system contains information on timber volume, roads
and the terrain classification developed as a part of this study. The model library consists of
three decision models: a heuristic programming to select blocks for harvest and a minimum
spanning tree/shortest path module to determine the location of roads to access harvested
blocks. The graphics interface provides a linking mechanism between the geographic
information system, the decision model, and the harvest planner.
The prototype spatial decision support system (MERANTI) developed in this study
provide the harvest planner with an efficient means of evaluating the large amount of data
required for automatically selecting blocks for harvest and determining preliminary forest
road locations. The results demonstrated that by using "MERANTI'. decision support tools
during a timber harvest planning process, the effectiveness of decision making could be
improved. The findings of the study will help refine the tropical hill Dipterocarp timber
harvesting system and planning and could provide guidelines for future GIS-based support
system development |
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