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- acquisition (acquire, access and storage) of spatial data 
for the ,laboratory region”, 
- creation and supplement (acquire, store, update and 
correction) of the GIS database containing variety 
elements of environmental pollution; 
presentation of environmental compilation for data 
visualisation and dissemination, 
_ selecting of an optimum data set for multispectral 
classification including texture features. 
Another tasks was connected with computer hardware 
completion, and with purchase of Landsat and ERS-1 
imagery. 
The main goals of the project were: 
. to develop a method introducing the up-to-date 
information about environment and its pollution into the 
GIS data base using the field measurements and 
remote sensing techniques for data acquisition, 
- development of methods which bring accurate updates 
of the various spatial data entities and ancillary 
environmental pollution information in the selected 
Cracow area, 
- creation of integrated databases that embody 
requirements with respect to services of monitoring 
Cracow's polluted environment, 
- development of ways and forms of data presentation of 
environment condition born from the GIS analysis and 
manipulation. 
4. SELECTION OF GRID-BASED GIS 
Grid - cell (often called a raster) data structure GIS 
creates a matrix that is superimposed over the terrain. 
The attribute information is collected within a systematic 
array grid cells. For environmental monitoring purposes 
grid-cell GIS is expected to be a real - time decision 
support system. In polluted areas, the information stored 
in a GIS is dynamically changing from hour to hour (or 
day to day) - both in time as well as in space - since 
those phenomena are dynamic and are constantly 
changing. 
For analysing and displaying dynamic phenomena, we 
used a multi-step computing process, requiring several 
particle processes and detailed compilations. Therefore, 
for monitoring of polluted environment, we had to apply 
dynamic GIS that is a grid - based microcomputer GIS 
and image processing system. A number of companies 
on the market offers various geographical information 
systems.The following software packages were 
compared: ERDAS Imagine 8.1, ER Mapper 4.0, PCI 5.1, 
GRASS 4.1, IDRISI 4.1 and ILWIS 1.21. The first three, 
one can include in commercial packages, and the last 
three, to the university packages which are rather not 
expensive. GRASS is available free of charge in 
INTERNET. All those packages may be useful for 
environmental pollution data analysis. 
The differences between software packages concern 
rather the ways of work realisation and the degree of user 
friendliness, rather than the possibilities those work 
realisation. All systems accomplish (in 90 %) the same 
tasks. But during execution of some tasks like, for 
Instance, interpolation for surface with limited data points 
- One can notice wide difference delivered from those 
Packages. Besides, not any system is equipped with 
Possibility of discontinuity line allowance. Therefore other 
software like SCOP and SURFER were applied in cases 
619 
where analysis had to take discontinuity places into 
consideration. 
For environment monitoring of Cracow region purposes, 
the three following software packages were used: IDRISI, 
GRASS and ERDAS Imagine 8.1. 
For the recording of description and attribute data and for 
base management, system FoxPro 2.5 PL for Windows 
was applied. 
5. TYPES AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION 
Databases of sources or investigation and analyses of 
surface patterns and biophysical processes in polluted 
areas contain the following groups of information (Fig. 1): 
- geographic phenomena, 
- terrain relief, 
- thematic data concerning geology, pedology, land-use, 
hydrography, demography - connected with state of 
population's health etc., 
- data delivering sources of pollution and pollution 
influence on environment. 
  
Real environment 
of Cracow's area 
i 
Direct Environment 
Pollution Measurements 
  
  
  
  
        
   
   
    
  
   
   
emote sensing 
Investigation 
  
  
Training Sites 
and Field 
Sampling 
Terrain Data 
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
      
  
  
    
Regularisation 
and Introductory 
Correction 
Analogue Image 
TN Digital Image 
Measurements 
Interpretation 
Generalisation 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
   
   
    
  
    
    
  
Image Processing 
Classification and 
Feature Extraction 
    
  
  
  
  
  
   
Conversion X 
Rectification Map 
Registration compilation 
  
  
  
  
Source Databases 
  
  
  
Fig.1. Conceptual diagram of data processing and 
creation source database. Products are in boxes 
and processes are enclosed in rounded boxes. 
Geographic phenomena information is the basic 
framework for various GIS analysis. This information use 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B7. Vienna 1996