934 
Selected software modules, developed by the 
CRIES project or adapted from existing 
software, provide the user with the option to 
evaluate land use alternatives on a site- 
specific basis or for regional and national 
aggregates representing a mix of existing 
land use types or alternatives considered. 
2. THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DIMENSION IN 
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND ASSOCIATED LAND 
EVALUATION. 
Generally, land evaluation studies have been 
associated with aggregate levels of analysis: 
e.g. agro-ecological zones, the 
administrative district, region or nation. 
The CRIES information system components 
described in this paper, provide for spatial 
referencing of resource attribute data using 
orthogonal coordinate systems. This grid- 
based reference system permits the analysis 
of comparative advantage on a locational 
basis represented by the data cells 
comprising the integrated resource data base. 
This feature ensures that at all stages of 
analysis the spatial identity is incorporated 
in the final results and, therefore, 
reflected in the derived information content 
on which resource development recommendations 
and resulting land use policies are based. 
The location specific dimension of the 
information also permits economic feasibility 
analyses for alternative projects varying in 
scope and magnitude. 
The temporal dimension is reflected by the 
average frequency of availability of selected 
data sets over time and their representation 
in the data base (e.g., population density 
data per administrative district over a 
recent time period at selected time intervals 
represented by the attribute files in the 
data base). With the presence of these multi 
temporal attribute files, time series 
analyses can be conducted addressing such 
issues as the type, location and magnitude 
of land use change, population growth 
forecasting or environmental impacts. 
3. INTEGRATION AND LINKAGE OF INFORMATION 
SYSTEM MODULES 
The CRIES resource inventory and analysis 
approach to integrated rural development 
planning and agricultural sector analysis can 
be illustrated by the following major 
Resource Information System (RIS) components: 
the CRIES-GIS and the CRIES-AIS (Figure 1). 
As indicated in the figure, the linkage 
between the GIS and AIS constitutes, in 
essence, the CRIES approach in resource 
inventory and evaluation. The specific 
interactions as represented involve a set of 
software modules used to systematically 
evaluate land use options given a complex set 
of physical and socio-economic data, resource 
management objectives, carrying capacity 
considerations, and policy concerns. 
The main objective of the GIS is to compile 
and analyze the integrated data base to 
provide a systematic assessment of the 
(unrealized) production potential of the 
resource base. Subsequently, this information 
can then be linked with selected AIS modules 
to provide estimates of the performance 
characteristics (derived socio-economic 
benefits) of single or multiple enterprise 
options for a specific location or an 
CRIES 
Resource Information System (RIS) 
consists of 
CRIES 
Geographic Information 
System (GIS) 
CRIES - GIS: 
(handles data with an 
intrinsic spatial 
component) 
Information Unit: Grid 
Cell (e.g. 1, 4, 100 
hec tares) 
RESOURCE PRODUCTION 
BASE and PHYSICAL 
PRODUCTION POTENTIAL 
data examples: 
soils, precipitation, 
temperature, bio- 
climatic zones, ele 
vation, population 
density, administra 
tive districts 
MAJOR SOFTWARE MODULES: 
• GIS-INPUT 
• GIS-STATISTICS 
• GIS-ANALYSIS 
• GIS-TERRAIN 
• GIS-DISPLAY 
• GIS-CHOROLINE 
» GIS-UTILITIES 
CRIES 
Agro-economic Information 
System (AIS) 
CRIES - AIS: 
(handles data of an 
aggregate nature) 
Information Unit: Planning 
Unit (e.g. district, agro- 
eco. zone) 
PERFORMANCE DYNAMICS - 
BENEFITS/ ALTERNATIVE 
USE/INPUT SCENARIOS 
data examples: 
crop requirements, avai 
lability and cost of 
inputs,food requirements, 
enterprise budgets 
agro-physical profiles 
MAJOR SOFTWARE MODULES: 
• AIS-WATBUG 
• AIS-WATER 
« AIS-YIELD 
• AIS-MULBUD 
• AIS-ENTERPRI 
• AIS-LINPROG 
• AIS-IN/OUT 
• AIS-MSTAT 
Figure 1. Role and Linkage of Major Software 
Modules used in the CRIES Land Resource 
Assessment Approach for Integrated Rural 
Development Planning. 
CRIES - GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM 
(CRIES - GIS) - Version 6.00 
MAIN MENU 
PLEASE SELECT GIS MODULE : 
[F1 ] GIS-INPUT 
[F2 ] GIS-STATISTICS 
[F3 ] GIS-ANALYSIS 
[F4] GIS-TERRAIN 
[F5 ] GIS-DISPLAY 
t F 6] GIS-CHOROLINE 
[F7] GIS-UTILITIES 
these phases are used for 
primary data entry 
these phases provide statistical 
summaries 
these phases analyze and create 
raster files 
these phases support 3-D 
modeling 
these phases display the 
contents of a raster file 
these phases produce dot matrix 
printer maps 
these phases create, edit and 
reformat files 
Figure 2 . Main Screen Menu of the CRIES 
Geographic Information System. 
aggregate, thereof, such as a community and 
its surrounding supply area, i.e., a 
(sub)region, administrative district, 
national level or even multi-national 
regions. 
To provide users with an initial orientation 
toward the functions of the main GIS and AIS 
modules, the main menu of both systems is 
provided in this paper, containing short 
fuction descriptions (Fig. 2 and 3). The 
automated analytical protocols between the 
GIS and AIS are under development. 
cr: 
[F 1 ] AIS- 
[F2 ] AIS- 
[F3 ] AIS- 
[F4 ] AIS- 
[F5 ] AIS- 
[F6 ] AIS- 
[F7] AIS- 
CF8] AIS- 
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