MULTIMEDIA FOR NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Loey Knapp, Fred Ris
IBM
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
Over the past decade many tools have been developed to assist in natural resources analysis
and decision-making. GIS, statistics, scientific visualization, and simulation models are software
tools used extensively to improve understanding of environmental processes. Sophisticated dis-
plays depicting temporal and spatially distributed phenomena are being produced across the coun-
try, assisting in extracting essential information from geographic data sets. As advanced as these
technologies are, they provide a datacentric rather than holistic view of the issues. In addition, the
distribution of the resulting information has lagged, often leaving managers or the public unaware
of the implications of various decisions. Forest service plans and environmental impact statements
are distributed as thick paper documents, a form of communication which cannot incorporate the
interactive computer displays which show temporal animations, 3-dimensional rotations, and the
results of spatial queries. Multimedia techniques hold considerable promise as a dramatically dif-
ferent way of distributing complex geographic information. Incorporation of animation, textual
explanations, videos, hierarchical presentation paths, and the use of sound provide the tools to doc-
ument and explain the results of scientific analysis and to portray a more holistic view of the prob-
lem. Dissemination of this information is simplified as Improvements in multimedia software now
allow compiled presentations to be distributed easily over internal networks or the internet.
1. INTRODUCTION the report are generally missing. It is also safe
to assume that a mental image of the state-
ment's contents will be quite different from a
colleague's mental image, perhaps to the extent
that people come to very different conclusions
relative to approval of the ski resort.
Imagine being in charge of evaluating an
environmental impact statement regarding a pro-
posed ski resort in the mountains of Colorado.
The statement will likely include reference maps,
charts showing statistical descriptions of poten-
tial effects, GIS displays of spatial analyses of
the area, tables of numerical output from a vari-
This case can be generalized and sum-
marized to say several things. First, decisions in
ety of time-variant models, and lengthy text
describing how these pieces of information are
related and what they mean. One would be hard
pressed to mentally visualize the various options
and impacts accurately within the time required
for your response. This is because the data
underlying the statement is complex and the cues
which would elicit the essential information from
the natural resources arena involve complex
thinking as the holistic view comprises many
pieces of information. Second, understanding of
this information will vary depending on the rep-
resentation of the data and the background of
the viewer. The more effective the representa-
tion, the more cues that are presented to assist
in the mental process, the closer the understand-
