EXPANDING THE SITUATION PICTURE FOR THE DECISION MAKER WITH GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

H. Seppanen, J. Krisp, K. Virrantaus

TKK, Surveying, Espoo, Finland

hannes.seppanen@tkk.fi

The decision-making process related to geographic information has been changing a lot in recent years due to technological and methodological development. The so called situation picture is a clear and informative way to support decision making and this has become as a part of the decision making process. However the amount of geographic information has increased greatly and the ways to analyze and present the information to the decision maker needs to be advanced. This leads to a situation where the decision-making process has become too advanced and time consuming for the decision-maker to handle it independently. The case studies presented in the research indicate that an interaction process between specific domain experts and the decision maker is needed. The framework for decision-making includes GI experts and domain experts working and communicating together in order to enhance the selection of meaningful variables from extensive spatial datasets. In the case studies the decision support relies on the general output of spatial information systems. An advanced framework for the decision-making suggested in this research advances the decision-making distinctiveness and supports the understanding of how GIScientist can contribute to this process.