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2.2 A Self-developed Geographic Information System 
A GIS developed at the station is not used for general 
purposes. It was followed a guideline that the developed 
GIS should provide functions to solve management 
problems encountered at the station as many as possible. 
User friendly is one of several key components that make a 
GIS successful. No commercial GIS packages have been 
used. Databases created by major brand names GIS can be 
reformatted and integrated into the existing databases for 
further analysis. All programs were written in C and C++ 
languages. Functions are provided module by module such 
that they can be configured in different ways to solve so 
many different types of managemant problems. Only 
personal computers and their peripherals were used. A work 
station version of GIS can be converted in a very short 
period of time when a work station is required in addition to 
personal computers. All functions are running in a Chinese 
mode and menu driven makes it easy to operate. Every 
technician at the experimental station can implement the 
GIS by themselves in couple hours of training. 
2.3 Databases 
All kinds of data has to be converted into digital form. 
Forest inventory at the station is the major database has 
been converted. They provide the station detail information 
on a subcompartment basis. However, more investigations 
have been conducted by the institutc consisting of soil, 
vegetation, animal, and insect. Topographic data was 
digitized from four sheets of orthophoto maps at a scale of 
1:5000. Contour lines at two meters intervals provide a very 
good material to generate slope maps and aspect maps. 
Solid model of the station was then generated based on the 
contour lines. Terrain animation of the station was also 
possible to perform and built into the databases. Field 
survey gave a very detail information of buildings, water 
pipeline, road system and facilities. An ecology system is 
changing all the time and their interaction has to be taken 
into consideration whenever an experiment is performed. 
The database creation is a continuous process and trying to 
depict their spatial interactions from the very beginning. 
Data types include maps, photos, tally sheets, voices, and 
computer animation. Every database has to be created in a 
relational tvpe such that a GIS can implement it for further 
studies. 
2.4 Application Modules 
Application modules are the major components of the 
developed GIS which perform all kinds of functions to solve 
problems encountered in the management of the 
experimental station. There are ten application modules 
have been developed, namely, basic application module, 
animal and vegetation inventory module, zoning module, 
animal inquiry module, vegetation inquiry module, station 
management module, global positioning system module, 
three-dimensional terrain analysis module, terrain animation 
module, spatial interaction module. 
2.4.1 Basic Application Module 
This module provides basic GIS functions such as overlay 
analysis, inquiry, display, input and output. Topographic 
maps, slope maps, aspect maps, forest inventory, upper 
growth, under growth, soil maps, buildings, and facilities 
can be extracted by mouse clicking. All kinds of data layers 
can be turned on or off, zoomed in or zoomed out by 
clicking a mouse. Every thing displayed on a color monitor 
can be sent to a laser printer. Inquiry of elevation of a 
particular contour is also a mouse clicking process. Detail 
information of a given subcompartment can be extracted 
from the databases to display on a color monitor right away 
without issuing any computer command. It is a process no 
more than moving a mouse and clicking a mouse. 
2.4.2 Animal and Vegetation Inventory Module 
Inventory of animal and vegetation at the station is a 
continuous process. This module provides information 
relevant with animal and vegetation have been investigated 
at the station. Vegetation is categorized into upper growth 
and under growth, distinct and unique species. Animal is 
divided into several categories such as mammal, bird, insect, 
fish, amphibia, and reptile. Every species has their own 
description and image file for quick inquiry. They can be 
inquired by year, by species. This module provides input 
function for a new inventory, both animal and vegetation as 
well. 
2.4.3 Zoning Module 
Zoning at the station is a very important issue. The zoning 
module provides very user friendly functions that one only 
draws boundary for a given site(ex. fig.1) on a color monitor. 
Then very detail information for that particular site will 
generate automatically on a color monitor for further 
analysis. All databases can be extracted right away. To 
decide a right place for a given type of experiment is not 
difficult at all if site requirement for a given species has 
been decided before hand. 
2.4.4 Animal Inquiry Module 
This module provides an inquiry function of an existing 
animal database. Sorting and data entry are two major 
functions that provide typical database management 
functions. Animal can be inquired according to several 
different categories. 
2.4.5 Vegetation Inquiry Module 
This module provides same functions as does by animal 
inquiry module. Inquiry can be issued not only by their 
names but also by their sites. 
2.4.6 Station Management Module 
Research projects have been conducted at the station can be 
inquired in detail by the station management module. 
Meteorological data analysis and inquiry are the second 
components. Field patrolling and daily log are managed by 
this module. Buildings, road system, water supply system, 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B7. Vienna 1996