Infotech

Technical Consultation on Land and Water Resources Information Systems 1
Information technology and

decision-support systems in AGL
INTRODUCTION
Over the last two decades the Land and Water Development Division (AGL)
has been at the forefront of the development and application of computer-
based systems to analyse data and generate information to support
decisions on various land and water issues . Separate soil and land and
water systems have been developed. The soil and land systems focus on
methodologies and tools for the assessment of land resources potentials at
global, regional and national and sub-national levels. The water systems
concern irrigation water use and management at field level and water
resources assessment at regional and national levels.
AGL has been cooperating with various units within FAO and
numerous international agencies and national institutions in developing and
applying the systems.
Initially, in the late seventies and early eighties, the systems were
developed for mainframe and mini-computers. From the late eighties they
were gradually adapted to microcomputers. At the same time computer
tools for managing spatial data, including geographic information systems
(GIS), remote sensing and global positioning systems (GPS) were
introduced. Since the last few years the availability of networked PC
workstations, rapid application development environment and multimedia
tools have opened an era of completely new possibilities in the
development and application of the systems.
Table 1 summarises some of the main issues related to sustainable

land and water resources management which concern FAO.
TABLE 1
Scales of land and water use planning and management
Level of analysis Scale/spatial resolution 1) Issue

Field/production unit <1:5,000 Productive crops and animals conservation of
(site specific) soil and water; high levels of soil fertility; low
levels of soil and water pollutants; low levels of
crop pests and animal diseases.
Farm/village (local/level) 1:1,000-1:50,000 Viable production systems; food requirements;
economic and social needs satisfied; awareness
by farmers.
Country (national/ sub- 1:25,000-1:2,500,000 Judicious development of agro- ecological
national) potential and use of irrigation water resources;
drought and flood risks; food production and
food security; conservation of natural resources
and bio-diversity; land degradation; public
awareness.
Continent/world 1;1,000,000-1:5,000,000 Land degradation and desertification;
(regional/ global) preservation of bio-diversity; water sharing;
water pollution; population development and
food security; climate change and agricultural
potential; awareness of regional and global
institutions.
2 Information Technology and Decision-Support Systems in AGL
1)
A range of scales is indicated at any given level of analysis. In practice the actual scale of an application
is selected according to the extent of the area and the availability of maps.
J. Antoine
BACKGROUND PAPER Soil Resources, Management and
Conservation Service
Land and Water Development Division, FAO, Rome, Italy
FIGURE 1
Information and Decision-Support Systems in AGL
Decisions
USERS
Problems and Issues
DATABASE
TOOLS
MODEL
TOOLS
DECISION
DOCUMENTS
SUPPORT
PUBLICATIONS
TOOLS
LAND AND WATER INFORMATION DATABASE
MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
Other Units AGL Info Other Units
WAICENT
AGL LAND AND WATER INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Currently AGL systems comprise a set of tools to store and analyse

information and generate and disseminate information products for land and
water decision. The systems integrate tools of essentially five kinds (Fig. 1):
1) Database tools
These include database program shells for the creation of soil, water,
climate, crop and land use databases; and sometimes also the databases
which have been established using the programs. Increasingly used are
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases and analytical and
visualisation tools for rapid production of information products. GIS utility
derives from a capacity for dynamic functionality based on the following
three main qualities:
- the physical computing capacity to manipulate data, including

overlay, join, disaggregate;
- the related capacity to query the data by formulating hypotheses for

testing assumptions defining potential relationships and developing
theoretical constructs;
- the capacity to relate two-dimensional and three-dimensional

locations of earth features along with dynamic (time) four-
dimensional processes.
2) Model tools
a) Models for crop growth and estimation of both potential and actual
yields. Crop modelling has proved a valuable and multipurpose tool in
land resources management which can assist in the estimation of
crop yields and the prediction of crop shortfalls due to environmental
risks.
b) Models for water balance, crop water requirements and irrigation

requirements. Water modelling is an essential tool of quantitative
assessment of water resources for the purpose of planning and
managing the efficient use of the resource.
c) Remote sensing techniques to characterize and map land cover, land

use patterns and evaluate and monitor soil and water resources.
Remote sensing techniques offer a unique way of quickly assessing
land use situation and trends and, in particular, detect biophysical
degradation of the land due to improper use or mismanagement in
implementing land management plans. Remotely sensed data can be
integrated with other data layers stored in a GIS to derive various
kinds of maps, such as soil moisture condition maps, land
degradation maps.
3) Decision support tools

a) Expert systems tools to provide advice on deciding on land and water

use and management options, based on available information and
knowledge.
b) Multi-Criteria Decision Support (MCDS) to analyse optimal land and

water use scenarios. MCDS tools facilitate interactive negotiations on
land and water use. This is because feasible real world solutions in
interactive negotiations are compromise solutions resulting from
trade-offs between various conflicting objectives, in order to find an
efficient and acceptable balance between the requirements of the
stakeholders in the land and water resources available.
4) Documents and publications
AGL has a documentation centre which collects and maintains two

kinds of documents:
- a collection of FAO and non/FAO technical documentation (country

information, field documents). This includes monographs (acquired or
received through exchange);
- a map collection containing thousands of local maps which were used

in the compilation of the FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World, and
continuously enriched with new maps. The maps include those
published by FAO field projects, maps in technical reports, maps
published by national institutions or development agencies. The
subjects covered are mainly soils, land use, land suitability, agro-
ecology, geology, hydrogeology, topography and administrative units
for the developing countries and generalized and other maps for the
industrialized countries.
AGL Documentation Centre uses an adaptation of the ISIS software to

manage the database of the documentation centre. The Centre has a direct
link with FAOs main Library's databases (FAOBIB and SERIAL) and use of on-
line Virtual Library databases (AGRIS, CABI, etc.) for more comprehensive
searches; loans; internal circulation of documentation, books, serials;
dissemination of information and publications produced by the AGL.
5) Multi-media tools
AGL uses INTERNET and INTRANET facilities to disseminate

information under the umbrella of the World Agriculture Information Centre
(WAICENT). WAICENT is FAOs Corporate Information Dissemination
System. In this way AGL reaches its target audiences more effectively at
reduced processing costs in all phases of receiving, treating and
disseminating land and water information.
AGL takes advantage of the three principal interactive and

complementary components which makes up WAICENT:
FAOSTAT, for the storage and dissemination of statistical information,

FAOINFO, which covers hypermedia information(viz. text, images, audio
and video), and
FAOSIS covering specialized information systems.
In particular AGL uses the services of the FAOINFO Group of WAICENT

to prepare the textual, graphical, statistical, tabular information AGL places
on the Web.
DESCRIPTION OF MAIN INFORMATION AND DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM TOOLS

USED BY AGL
Corresponding to the three areas of applications mentioned above there are

three kinds of systems:
1) land resources assessment systems;

2) water resources assessment systems;
3) irrigation water management systems.
Land resources assessment systems
Agro-Ecological Zoning (AEZ) System
The main system for land resource assessment is FAOs agro-ecological

zoning (AEZ) methodology and supporting software packages for application
at global, regional, national and sub-national levels. AEZ uses various
databases, models and decision support tools which are described below.
When to use AEZ
Useful as a tool of assessment of land resources for better planning and

management and monitoring of these resources. AEZ can be used in various
assessment applications, including:
land resource inventory;

inventory of land utilization types and production systems, including
indigenous systems, and their requirements;
potential yield calculation;
land suitability and land productivity evaluation , including forestry and
livestock productivity;
mapping agro-climatic zones, problem soil areas, agro-ecological zones,
land suitability, quantitative estimates on potential crop areas, yields and
production;
land degradation assessment, population supporting capacity assessment
and land use optimization modelling.
What is AEZ?
The AEZ concept involves the representation of land in layers of spatial

information and combination of the layers of spatial information using a
Geographic Information System (GIS). The combination/overlay of layers
produces agro-ecological cells. In this way a land resources database is
created which contains information on the AEZ cells. AEZ integrates in the
database various kinds of geo-referenced data sets , which can include the
following:
topography;
administrative boundaries;
road/communications;
towns and settlements;
rivers/water bodies;
geology;
soil;
physiography;
landform;
erosion;
rainfall;
temperature;
moisture regime;
watersheds;
irrigable areas;
land use/land cover and forest reserves;
production systems
crop requirements;
agricultural inputs;
crop statistics;
markets;
prices;
population.
AEZ models are applied on the database to analyse potentials of land

for various kinds of use. The AEZ models include models for the calculation of
length of growing period, irrigation requirements, crop biomass, land
suitability, land productivity.
The flow diagram in Figure 2 shows the linkages between the various
components of the FAO AEZ system used in a recent Kenya study. The 26
activities indicated in the boxes represent four groups of compound
activities as follows:
(1, 2) formulation of LUTs and their ecological requirements;

(3-12) compilation of land resource database;
(13-19) assessment of land productivity, including cropping
patterns, linkage to livestock and forestry production systems
and soil conservation;
(20-26) analysing optimal land use scenarios.
The land suitability and land productivity results are recorded for each
AEZ cell or record in the database and constitute an entry point for land use
analysis, using decision support tools such as multi-criteria analysis and
simulation.
Two software packages have been prepared to implement AEZ models:

one software package for global and regional application; and another
package for more detailed application at country level. PC versions of the
programs are available, running on DOS as well as WINDOWS 95 environment.
A WINDOWS NT version of the AEZ country study software is currently being
developed in collaboration with the International Institute for Applied System
Analysis (IIASA).
AEZ applications
Global and regional
The AEZ methodology and models have been applied in developing a global
digital AEZ land resources database based on the digitized soil map of the
world (DSMW). The database contains information on soil and landform,
temperature regime and length of growing period, agro-ecological zones,
forest and protected areas, land suitability for about 30 main crops.
The database has been used in global land productivity potential

studies within the framework of FAO AT2010 study, including estimation of
arable land potentials for agricultural expansion by country. It has been
used in regional and country studies on land use change, population
supporting capacity and land suitability for aquaculture. It has also been
used in applications involving integration of bio-physical and socio-economic
data such as studies on land carrying capacity and the effects of climate
change on agricultural productivity potentials. The database will be used in
regional food insecurity and vulnerability mapping (FIVIMS) programme of
the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
FIGURE 2
A Land Resources Information System configuration as applied in a recent Kenya country
4
Prcipitations
1 3
8
DESCRIPTION Tempratures min. Sol et terrain
DES BASE DE
TYPES 6
DONNEES Tempratures max. SCENARIOS Zones forestires
DUTILISATION CLIMATIQUES
DES TERRES CLIMATIQUES
(Stations) Cultures de rente
Vitesse du 6
vent Parcs
Ts-ts
Irrigation
5 Rgions admin.
7 Altitude (m)
BASE DE
P, T, RI
DONNES
CO
7 2 et RL
CLIMATIQUES
(Grille)
2
9
10 INVENTAIRE DES
CATALOGUE DES
CALCUL RESSOURCES
CULTURES,
ETP,
FOURRAGES
LPC ET ZT 9
ET BOIS DE
CHAUFFE
11
12
BASE DE DONNEES: BASE DE DONNEES:

RESSOURCES
12 EN TERRES COMPOSITION DE
(Cellules ZAE) ASSOCIATIONS
(Grille) DE SOLS
13
CALCUL DE LA BIOMASSE
ET DES RENDEMENTS
14
BESOINS 16
EDAPHIQUES APPARIEMENT
DES REGLES 17
ET APTITUDE TUT
GRADATIONS
15
BESOINS
CLIMATIQUES
18
PRODUCTIVITE DURABLE
DES TERRES
19
BASE DE DONNEES
DE LA
PRODUCTIVITE DES
CELLULES ZAE
21
CATALOGUE 22
20 SCENARIOS ATTRIBUTION OPTIMALE
SCENARIOS DES CELLULES 25
SOCIO-ECONOMIQUES
BASE DE
DONNEES
RESUMEE DES
23
SCENARIOS
REDACTION DU RAPPORT,
APPLICATION
24
RAPPORT 26
CARTES SIG
National
The AEZ methodology and software packages have been used in studies
which address a wide range of land management issues: improved land use
planning (China, Kenya, Mozambique, Grenada, Tanzania), formulation of
population policies (Malaysia, Philippines, China), national agricultural
development (Kenya, Bangladesh), agricultural research planning and
management (Bangladesh and Indonesia), natural resources management
(Brazil), technology targeting (Bangladesh) and disaster preparedness
(Bangladesh).
Availability
AEZ is available as FAO Publications in the form of reports in English, French

or Spanish and software packages. Contact for technical queries:
Jacques.Antoine@FAO.ORG; Freddy.Nachtergaele@fao.org.
Multi-Lingual Soil Database (SDBm)
When to use SDBm
Database tool useful for storage of primary soils information assembled at

national level, or data collected in a soil survey at subnational and local
level. SDBm data are used in the computerized AEZ land evaluation
systems. It is useful to soil scientists, agricultural extension officials and
environmental modellers.
What is SDBm
SDBm is a collection of programs written in CLIPPER 5.2 and C languages

incorporated into a menu-based interactive user interface to enter data and
manage the database. The coding system used in the database conforms to
FAO Guidelines for Soil Profile Description. Data storage is greatly facilitated
by the multilingual function which provides assist menus in three
languages: English, French and Spanish.
Options for simple statistical analysis: calculation of weighted averages

or dominant values of selected variables by soil unit, depth range and group
of soil profiles; graphic presentation of soil analysis data, such as pie chart
image of relative percentages of variable groups of attributes in a given soil
profile.
Read/write facility to communicate with other SDBm databases and

exchange data.
Examples of SDBm applications
Global: SDBm has been used to create a global soil profile database linked
with the FAO digitized soil map of the world.
National: SDBm is being used by soil and land use planning institutions in
various countries, including the Netherlands, Lithuania, China, Kenya,
Tanzania, Grenada, Yemen, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria.
Availability
SDBm is available as FAO World Soil Resources Report 81. Contact persons:
Jacques.Antoine@fao.org; Wolfgang.Prante@fao.org.
Soil And Terrain (SOTER) Database
When to use SOTER
SOTER is useful to store soil and terrain data at national and global scale in
an easily accessible format for thematic mapping and monitoring of
changes of soil and terrain resources and for AEZ evaluation of land
resources potential for land use planning. It can be used by scientists,
planners, decision-makers and policy-makers.
What is SOTER
SOTER utilizes a Relational DataBase Management System (RDBMS) and

Geographic Information System (GIS) to establish a World Soils and Terrain
Database, containing digitized map units and their attribute data. SOTER uses
a specific methodology and its own system for classification of terrain
designed for universal application. SOTER has adopted the recently Revised
FAO Soil Legend as a reference classification system for differentiating and
characterizing its soil components.
The database is supported by a Procedures Manual which translates

SOTER's overall objectives into a workable set of arrangements for the
selection, standardization, coding and storing of soil and terrain data. The
input of soil and terrain data into the SOTER database is contingent upon the
availability of sufficiently detailed information collected through previous
surveys.
Application
A current SOTER project envisages to create a separate database for each

area for which a land resource inventory is being undertaken. Subsequently
the individual databases will be merged into a global database. Through its
basic activities the SOTER project also intends to contribute to the
establishment of national and regional soil and terrain databases, founded
upon the same commonly acceptable principles and procedures, so as to
further facilitate the exchange of land resource information and ultimate
incorporation into a global database.
So far SOTER databases have been established in various countries in

all the regions of the world, including Uruguay, Costa Rica, Kenya, Brazil.
Availability
ISRIC Secretariat: Soil@isric.nl. Contact person in FAO:

Freddy.Nachtergaele@fao.org.
Digitized Soil Map Of The World (DSMW)
What is DSMW
The Digital Soil Map of the World (DSMW) is FAOs global soil database
based on the paper FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World (scale 1:5,000,000),
which consists of ten map sheets: Africa, North America, Central America,
Europe, Central and Northeast Asia, Far East, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.
DSMW contains two types of files: map files and derived soil
properties files. The map files are available in three GIS formats: one vector
format (ARC/INFO Export) and two raster (scale 5 x 5 arc-minute) formats:
ERDAS and IDRISI. The Derived Soil Properties files consist of interpretation
programs and related data files. The programs are written in QuickBASIC
and can be read using DOS or OS/2 operating system. Programs are
included that interpret the maps in terms of agronomic and environmental
parameters (e.g. pH, organic carbon content, C/N ratio, clay mineralogy, soil
depth, soil and terrain suitability for specific crop production, soil moisture
storage capacity and soil drainage class). The programs produce analyses of
soil inventories, problem soils and fertility capability classification. Included
are maps of soil units classified according to the World Soil Reference Base
and topsoil distribution, which can used in teaching soil science. The
database includes information on soil moisture storage capacity, soil
drainage class and effective soil depth, useful for environmental studies.
Soils and Terrain Database for East Africa
This is a database program for storage, display, interpretation and analyses

of the soil maps of 10 East-African countries (Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda) at scale
1:1,000,000. The database contains information on soil database (based on
the revised FAO Soil Legend) and terrain as well as data layers on
vegetation and geology. The program provides a query facility which
enables easy access to the database for data entry, display of thematic
maps and data browsing.
Availability
The databases are currently installed on the computers of FAO's Geographic

Information System Unit. This Unit stores large quantities of data from a
variety of sources and of different types.
DSMW is published as CD-ROM (version 3.5, November 1995).

Contact person: Freddy.Nachtergaele@fao.org.
FAO/ITC Land Use Database
When to use the database

To store information on land use for various purposes: assessing land

production potentials, monitor land use changes and human impacts on the
land, soil degradation and many other damaging effects at various scales.
What is the FAO/ITC Land Use Database
The FAO/ITC land use database is a PC program which stores information on

individual land uses and production systems in terms of activities, inputs,
benefits on the physical, social and economic environment. The program
comprises 1) a data entry module containing collected land use data,
defined land use classes, plus program settings and options for data entry
and storage; 2) a query module which searches for land use data and
classes on the basis of user-defined criteria 3) a glossary with numerous
terms used to describe operations, inputs and land use types and classes.
These are available in the form of multiple-choice lists, from which the user
selects.
Application
The program is being tested in various field projects.
Availability
International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC) PO Box
6, 7500 AA Enschede, The Netherlands.
ECOCROP 1 (Crop Environmental Requirements Database)
When to use ECOCROP 1
Ecocrop 1 can be used to identify suitable crop or tree species for a

specified environment or for a defined use and to create a library of crop
environmental requirements.
What is ECOCROP 1
Ecocrop 1 is a database which provides the optimum and minimum-

maximum ranges of crop environmental requirements for various species.
The information has proven useful to gardeners, farmers, students,
agricultural development and extension staff and land-use planners.
The database contains information on 1700 species, which can be

used to facilitate the comparison of 12-20 different environmental
requirements across different groups of species, or across species of
different use. The database includes arable crops, grasses, trees and some
other plant species with special uses. The database in Ecocrop 1 primarily
holds information about the climate and soil requirements of plant species
but the program also provides a range of other information, such as a brief
description of the species, common names in different language, possible
yields etc. It has text information about land use planning and about
environmental factors and their influence on each other and on plant growth
The present size of the database makes it one of the biggest data-
collections on crop environmental requirements available.
The database program is menu-driven with drop down menus and it

has an on-line user manual and a range of help-keys. The program has a
digitised climate zone map, a data entry and comments form that can be e-
mailed back to FAO. It can produce output files in all commonly used
formats and has many other features.
Ecocrop 1 runs on computers using MS-DOS ver. 2.1 or later

operation system, with 640 K of Ram and at least 6 Mb of hard disk space.
ECOCROP 1 Application examples
The program has been distributed in about 700 copies to Research

Institutes, Universities, Land Use Planning Offices, Government offices, Field
projects, NGOs, private bodies, etc. It has been used in various
applications, including identification of species suitable for sand dune
stabilization and erosion control , land rehabilitation, reforestation and as
cash crops.
Availability
Ecocrop 1 is available on the Internet at: http://193.43.36.6/ecocrop.html.

It can be downloaded via FTP server. It is also available as a set of two
diskettes with an information folder, from FAO Distribution and Sales
Section, Publications-sales@FAO.ORG. Contact for technical requests:
Per.Diemer@FAO.ORG or Wolfgang.Prante@FAO.ORG.
ECOCROP 2 (Crop Environmental Response Database)
When to use ECOCROP 2
Ecocrop 2 can be applied to obtain environmental response information for

20 crops of global importance, information for crop modelling including the
facility to graph the responses and organize and compare crop response
information. The user can enter own data and use the software to graph the
responses on the screen and to provides statistical out-put for crop
modelling.
What is ECOCROP 2
Ecocrop 2 is a database program which holds information on a number of

varieties for 20 crops of world-wide importance. Each crop file contains on
average 200-220 separate crop environmental response studies or data sets
extracted from 40-50 sources. On selecting certain environmental or
management factors and crop responses of interest, such as yield, biomass
production or photosynthesis rate, the information contained in the
database can be illustrated on the screen in the form of response curves or
it can be written out in statistical form for use as crop model input. The crop
files follow the DSSAT format, and are therefore widely applicable.
ECOCROP 2 application examples

ECOCROP2 is being distributed for field testing.
Availability
The database will be made downloadable via FTP server and made available
on CD from Distribution and Sales Section, FAO. Contact for technical
requests: Per.Diemer@FAO.ORG and Wolfgang.Prante@FAO.ORG.
World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies

(WOCAT)
When to use WOCAT
WOCAT is tool which aims at promoting improved decision making on land

management and transfer of appropriate technology through collection,
analysis, presentation and dissemination of knowledge on soil and water
conservation (SWC) world-wide. In particular, WOCAT can be used to identify
options for overcoming land degradation problems.
What is WOCAT
WOCAT is a world-wide program, launched in 1992 by the World Association

of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWC) and organized as a consortium of
several institutions (members/donors), including: FAO, ISRIC, Deutsche
Gesellschat fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Observatoire du Sahara
et du Sahel (OSS), and others; coordinated by Centre for Development and
Environment (CDE), University of Bern, Switzerland.
WOCAT uses a standardized framework for the evaluation of SWC by

the means of questionnaires. The program organizes regional SWC
workshops for data collection and exchange of experience, creates openly
accessible databases, analyzes and exchanges collected information,
produces and disseminates outputs (books, reports, maps, database,
decision support system, etc.) for the promotion of sustainable land use.
The inventory of the soil and water conservation technologies shows

characteristics of the socio-economic and bio-physical environment for each
technology and lists pros and cons of the technology under investigation.
Furthermore, WOCAT provides an analysis of the technology by using
evaluation criteria as replicability, durability, adaptability,
adoption/acceptance, etc. The inventory of soil and water conservation
approaches offers ways for the implementation of technologies on the
ground by reviewing and analyzing areas of intervention, land tenure, target
groups, involvement of land users, incentives, training needs etc. This
allows to elaborate on pros and cons of possible approaches.
At the core of the system is the WOCAT database which helps to

identify the solutions by providing the user with an inventory of soil and
water conservation technologies and an inventory of respective approaches.
A user-friendly query system allows to easily narrow down the possible
options and to trace appropriate solutions. Once that possible options are
identified, WOCAT gives a comprehensive description of the respective
technologies and approaches.
The WOCAT database will allow linkages with ECOCROP, Soil and AEZ
data, and land use information.
WOCAT application examples

a) Data collection in East and Southern Africa
The preliminary results of the regional WOCAT data collection show

that soil and water technologies are applied primarily on cropland in semi-
humid to semi-arid environments on small-scale farms with individual land
use rights and are rarely reported on grazing land (19%) and
forest/woodland (5%). Technologies focus mainly on structural measures,
often in combination with vegetative measures (e.g. grass on banks). There
are important knowledge gaps for costs, benefits and impacts of the
reported technologies. Technologies are mainly project-implemented, with
few traditional/indigenous approaches but currently a shift from top-down
approaches to bottom-up, participatory approaches can be observed.
b) National WOCAT inventory in Thailand
In a national WOCAT workshop 22 soil and water conservation

technologies and 14 approaches were identified and described. The data
collected is now being analyzed for constructing an expert system for soil
and water conservation in Thailand. The expected outputs compromise a
handbook and expert system on adaptable conservation technologies, an
overview report of successful approaches in sustainable soil management
and a map on achievements in soil and water conservation.
Availability
Contact address: WOCAT Secretariat/CDE, Hallerstrasse 12, CH-3012 Bern,

Switzerland, Tel. +41.31.631.88.22, Fax. +41.31.631.85.44, e-mail:
wocat@giub.unibe.ch; Internet:
http://www.giub.unibe.ch/cde/projects/wocat.htm.
Database Tool for Integrated Plant Nutrition Systems (DTIPNS)
Use of DTIPNS
To provide researchers, extension officers and development workers in the

area of plant nutrition management with numerical data and other relevant
information on plant nutrient management practices, plant nutrient inputs,
losses, uptakes and response to plant nutrients under a range of conditions
for selected countries. This information will allow the derivation of nutrient
balance sheets and the economic and agronomic evaluation of alternative
plant nutrient management practices, and so assist decision-making on
balanced, environmentally friendly plant nutrition practices at the farm
level.
What is DTIPNS?
FAO-IPNS database is a runtime version of Microsoft Access database which

contains data collected at the national and local level on the following
variables:
1. Nutrient content of mineral, organic and biological sources of plant

nutrients (including micronutrients).
2. Nutrient losses due to erosion and run-off, leaching, crop uptake,
volatilization and denitrification.
3. Response curves to one or more nutrient sources under a range of
conditions.
4. Descriptions of major crop rotations and plant nutrition practices of
farmers in selected countries under a range of conditions.
Application
A number of decision-support models have been developed using data

collected from on-station research conducted in developed countries. The
data collected in the IPNS database provide plant nutrient response data
from on-farm research conducted in developing countries. The database
therefore provides useful information for developing models which are
relevant to developing countries.
Assessment environmental impact of plant nutrition practices on plant

nutrient balance of the major nutrients.
Estimation and assessment of risk associated with the application of

alternative plant nutrition practices.
The database has been recently developed and is currently being

tested.
Availability
Contact: Lystra.FletcherPaul@fao.org.
ALES expert system
When to use ALES
To carry out land evaluations according to the method presented in the FAO
Framework for Land Evaluation (FAO, 1976). Such evaluations are location-
specific, usually require many data, involve numerous repetitive calculations
or references to tables and are tedious if many possibilities are to be
compared. ALES is a useful tool that provides an automated procedure of
evaluation to replace manual procedures which are time-consuming and
error prone.
What is ALES
ALES is a PC computer program shell which evaluators can use to build their
own expert systems taking into account local conditions. ALES provides a
reasoning mechanism and constrains the evaluator the evaluator to express
inferences using the mechanism. ALES is not by itself an expert system, and
does not contain knowledge about land and land use. It is a framework
within which evaluators can express their own, local knowledge. ALES can
also be thought as a model of expert judgement, that is the codification in a
constrained form of the inferences already present in the mind of and
expert.
ALES has six components: 1) a framework for a knowledge base

describing proposed land uses, in both physical and economic terms; 2) a
framework for a database describing the land areas being evaluated; 3) an
inference mechanism to relate these two, thereby computing the physical
and economic suitability of a set of map or land units for a set of proposed
land uses; 4) an explanation facility that enables model builders to
understand and fine tune their models; 5) a consultation mode that enables
the user to query the system and 6) a report generator.
ALES is a highly interactive program. ALES a dBase interface and can

linked with GIS systems such as ARC/INFO and IDRISI.
Application examples
ALES has been used in numerous land evaluations world wide. It has been
used by FAO field projects in Mozambique, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, Oman,
Yemen, Grenada, Ecuador and Chile.
Availability
ALES Project - Department of Soil, Crop, and Atmospheric Sciences (SCAS)

1015 Bradfield Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-1901 USA
Fax: +1 (607) 255-8615
Internet e-mail: ales@cornell.edu; WWW at
http://wwwscas.cit.cornell.edu/landecal/ales/
ales.htm.
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques, using the

Aspiration-Led Decision Support (ALDS) approach
When to use MCDA/ARLDS
In real world" situations, when solutions to problems are reached as

compromise solutions, resulting from trade-offs between various conflicting
objectives of the stakeholders through negotiations to reach a consensus. In
such situations the approach is not to maximize all the objectives, but to
optimize, that is, to find an acceptable balance between the requirements of
the stakeholders. Different kinds of objectives can be included, expressing
not only economic values of products but also addressing goals which can
not always be expressed in monetary terms such as biodiversity, people's
preferences, equity, or minimizing risk and uncertainty. The factors of a
solution are not fixed valued, but are variable or fuzzy within certain ranges
determined by resources availability and socio-economical realities. Usually
models have to be run a great number of times in order to identify a "best"
(or even acceptable) solution; and many options need to be examined to
generate the information and knowledge required for these decisions and to
quantify and display the trade-offs that must be made between conflicting
objectives.
What is MCDA/ARLDS
It is a recent DSS tool developed at IIASA (Makowski, 1994a, 1994c) based

on one of the most successful MCDA methods called the aspiration-
reservation led decision support (ARLDS).
From the user's point of view, the critical step of MCDA is generating
a part of the Pareto-optimal solution set. Efficient, or Pareto-optimal,
solutions are those for which an improvement in the value of one criterion
cannot be attained without worsening the value of at least one other
criterion. Generating the entire Pareto-set is practically impossible and
-even if done - would result in a vast amount of useless information. The
MCDA/ARLDS method facilitates generation of Pareto-solutions (having
properties implicitly defined by aspirations set by the decision maker (DM)
and then provide tools for analysing these solutions and generating another
set of Pareto-optimal solutions based on these results. Since aspirations are
usually not attainable, the DM uses an interactive tool in order to adjust
both aspiration and reservation levels until a solution is found which best
meets the DM expectations.
FIGURE 3
Structure of the MCDA/ARLDS Software
AEZ Model
Data File
Generator
Graphical
AEZ core User
User
model
Interface
Criteria
Aspirations LGP results
Reservations
Multicriteria
Problem LP problem HPDM
Generator
The ALDS is implemented with a software package which was

constructed from several modular tools designed according to the principle
of re-usability. The functional structure of the DSS software is illustrated in
Figure 3. These tools include the following:
a user interface which handles the interactive specification of aspiration

and reservation levels, as well as the changing of criterion's status. More
advanced users can also specify preferences in terms of fuzzy sets;
a data interchange tool for handling data that define a mixed integer
programming (MIP) or linear programming (LP) problem;
a problem-specific model generator for generating the core model in the

form of a mathematical programming problem;
a modular tool for the generation and interactive modification of a

multiple criteria problem. The resulting MIP problem is based on the core
model and the aspiration and reservation levels specified by the user
(Makowski, 1994 c);
a modular LP solver based on Interior Point method (Gondzia and

Makowshi, 1995).
The package is oriented towards an interactive mode of operation in

which a sequence of problems is solved under varying conditions (e.g.
different objective functions, reference points, values of constraints and
bounds). It offers also many options useful for diagnostic and verification of
a problem being solved.
Land and water application examples
a) Making land use choices in Kenya districts
The main issue here was to analyse potential population supporting

capacity of a district under various land use scenarios, considering
simultaneously several objectives such as maximizing revenues from crop
and livestock production, maximizing district self-reliance in agricultural
production, minimizing costs of production and environmental damages
from erosion. Population supporting capacity, as defined here, relates the
maximum potential of soil and climatic resources to produce food energy
and protein, at a given level of technology.
b) Regional water quality management: the Nitra River case
The scope of the problem is a river basin or a large region composed

of several basins where untreated and inadequately treated municipal and
industrial wastewater emissions should be reduced in order to improve
ambient water quality. At each discharge, one technology to be selected out
of a set of possible technologies can be implemented in order to meet the
desired water quality goals in the region. The approach is to specify ambient
water quality goals and to look for a regional low cost policy, using multi-
criteria optimizartion methods. The problem is handled in one step with the
interactive incorporation of decision makers preferences.
In both situations the approach is to optimize on the basis of the

various objective functions of the different actors and analysis of the extent
to which the different optimization runs lead to similar land use patterns or
water treatment technologies; to develop and apply interactive methods to
maximize the extent of consensus in a land use pattern or a technology.
The information produced in this process can then form a common

basis and tool for arriving at a negotiated solution for any remaining
differences.
Availability
MCDA/ARLDS is available as documented software package at IIASA.

Contact for technical queries: marek @iiasa.ac.at;
Jacques.Antoine@FAO.ORG.
Water Resources assessment systems

Aquastat Database
When to use Aquastat
Aquastat mainly provides users interested in global or regional perspectives

systematically organized and reliable information on water resources and
water use existing in the countries for use in studies and analysis and action
programmes on sustainable use of water, such as irrigation potential studies
and land productivity assessments and for monitoring water resources.
What is Aquastat
The AQUASTAT programme has been launched in order to provide basic

information on water resources and their use, in particular for agriculture
and rural development.
AQUASTAT is essentially a database on water availability and use in
agriculture and rural development, which produces country profiles on water
resources development, with emphasis on irrigation and drainage.
In 1993 a pilot phase was implemented, in which data collection and

processing were carried out for a selected number of countries. This made it
possible to assess the availability of the information, and to finalize the
structure of the database. Full implementation started in 1994 through
national and regional surveys and analysis.
Country analysis
With the help of national or international consultants, the survey is being

developed and carried out as follows:
1. Country-based reviews of literature and existing information. The

main sources of information are:
national water resources and irrigation master plans;

national yearbooks, statistics and reports;
reports from FAO and other projects;
international surveys;
results from national and international research centre surveys.
2. Data collection through a detailed questionnaire.
3. Standardization of the information available,
4. Data processing and critical analysis of the information, selection of

the most reliable information with the assistance of data processing
software developed specifically for the survey.
5. Preparation of country profiles and submission to national authorities

responsible for water resources and irrigation for further comments.
Regional analysis
With the help of international consultants, preparation of regional and

continental tables, maps and analyses, and cross-checking of the
information wherever possible.
Data
The main quantified variables gathered in the AQUASTAT database are:
renewable water resources (groundwater and surface water);

wastewater production and treatment;
non-conventional water sources;
water withdrawal by sector;
irrigation potential;
irrigated areas, water control and irrigation techniques;
origin of irrigation water;
types of management for fully or partially controlled irrigation schemes;
number of beneficiaries;
cost of irrigation and drainage development and operation and
maintenance;
irrigated and rainfed crops and yields;
drained areas and drainage technologies;
areas salinized by irrigation and flood protected areas;
population affected by water-borne and water-related diseases.
Additional information on irrigation development, institutional

environment and trends in water resources management is also presented
for each country.
One of the strengths of the AQUASTAT programme is that a

bibliographical reference is attached to each figure.
The country profile
The country profile describes the situation regarding water resources and
use in the country, and especially the irrigation and drainage subsectors. Its
aim is to emphasize the particularities of each country, as well as the
problems encountered in rural water management and irrigation. It also
summarizes the trends of irrigation in the countries, as described in the
available literature. It was a deliberate choice to attempt standardizing the
country profiles as much as possible. Standardized tables are used for all
country profiles.
Application
As at November 1997, the Aquastat survey has been completed for the
countries of Africa, the Near East and the Former Soviet Union. For each
region, a publication has been prepared and is available (Former Soviet

union in press).
Next surveys will consider Asia and Latin America.
Availability
Country profiles, regional summaries, tables and maps are all available on
Internet at the following address:
http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/agl/aglw/aquastat/aquastat.
htm.
For the regions already surveyed, quantitative data can also be

retrieved from a data storage software available with AGL.
FAO Contact: JeanMarc.Faures@fao.org.
Irrigation water management systems
Climatic Database (CLIMWAT)
When to use CLIMWAT
CLIMWAT is a multi-purpose climatic data base which was developed

primarily for use in providing climate data inputs for the calculation of crop
water requirements , irrigation supply and irrigation scheduling for various
crops in combination with the program CROPWAT (see below). CLIMWAT is
also useful in providing climatic data to AEZ land resources assessments.
What is CLIMWAT
The CLIMWAT data base has been originally compiled by the

Agrometeorological Group of the FAO Research and Technology
Development Division (SDR)and has been converted into a format suitable
for use by CROPWAT.
The CLIMWAT data base includes data from a total of 3262

meteorological stations from 144 countries divided into five continents and
is contained on five diskettes arranged according to continent and country :
Diskette 1: Asia and the Pacific

Diskette 2: Sub-Saharan Africa
Diskette 3: Near East and North Africa
Diskette 4: Europe
Diskette 5: South America, Caribbean and Central
America
Programs are included to facilitate management of the database ,

including the selection of suitable climatic stations from the concerned
countries.
The climatological data included are maximum and minimum

temperature, mean daily relative humidity, sunshine hours, wind speed,
precipitation and calculated values for reference evapotranspiration and
effective rainfall.
The reference evapotranspiration has been calculated for all stations

according the Penman Monteith method , as recommended by the FAO
Expert Consultation held in Rome, May 1990.
Various procedures to set up the system and to address the selected

climatic stations are available to assist the user of CLIMWAT in the use of
the data base and the CROPWAT program, including examples to show how
the various data can be addressed and used for planning and management
of irrigated and rainfed agriculture.
Application examples
CLIMWAT has been applied in numerous irrigation management projects in

various countries.
Availability
The CLIMWAT program is a new element of the CROPWAT irrigation

management program which has been published earlier as No 46 in the
Irrigation and Drainage Series CLIMWAT is available as FAO Irrigation and
drainage paper No. 49. (Manual and diskettes).
CROPWAT - a computer program for irrigation planning and

management
When to use CROPWAT
The program is meant as a practical tool to help both the Irrigation Engineer
and Irrigation Agronomist to carry out standard calculations for design and
management of irrigation schemes. It can further help in the development of
recommendations for improved irrigation practices and the planning of
irrigation schedules under varying water supply conditions.
What is CROPWAT
CROPWAT is a computer program for IBM-PC or compatibles. Its main

functions are:
To calculate: - Reference evapotranspiration

- Crop water requirements
- Irrigation requirements
- Scheme water supply
To develop: - Irrigation schedules under various management

conditions
To evaluate - Rainfed production and drought effects
Calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation requirements is

done from climatic and crop data, while the development of irrigation
schedules is based on the soil-water-balance for different irrigation
management conditions. Scheme water supply is calculated for various
cropping patterns. The program will run on any IBM-PC type of computer and
is available in English ,French or Spanish.
Procedures for calculation of the crop water requirements and

irrigation requirements are based on methodologies presented in FAO
Irrigation and Drainage Papers No. 24 "Crop water requirements" and No. 33
"Yield response to water". Concepts and calculation procedures for the
irrigation schedules will be presented in a FAO publication on irrigation
scheduling, presently in preparation.
CROPWAT version 5.7 is an update of earlier versions and includes a

revised method for estimating reference crop evapotranspiration, adopting the
approach of Penman-Monteith as recommended by the FAO Expert
Consultation held in May 1990 in Rome.
CROPWAT can be linked directly to the CLIMWAT database from which

it receives input of climatic data.
CROPWAT has a documentation in two parts which provides users with

directions in the installation and the use of the CROPWAT program and
guidance in the application in irrigation planning and management with

detailed examples on data collection and analysis.
Special attention is given to demonstration of the various applications

of the Scheduling Program in: Indicative Irrigation Scheduling; Evaluation of
Irrigation Practices; Rainfed Production and Supplementary Irrigation; Deficit
Irrigation
Application of CROPWAT
CROPWAT has been distributed to a large number of users and has been
applied in irrigation management projects in many countries.
Availability
CROPWAT is available as FAO irrigation and drainage paper No 46 in English,

French or Spanish. Contact for technical queries: Martin.Smith@FAO.ORG.
SIMIS - Scheme Irrigation Management Information System
When to use SIMIS
When managing irrigation systems a tool is needed which facilitates the

management tasks of irrigation systems. SIMIS can de used to provide timely
and complete information for decisions with regard to the day-to-day
management activities including water deliveries and other major issues such
as accounting, crop production, control of maintenance, water fees and other
relevant tasks.
What is SIMIS
SIMIS is a modular system of programs containing 19 different and

independent "modules". The first module is addressed to identify the
characteristic of the project where all the subsequent information will be
stored. SIMIS can store information for one or several projects as needed.
This is a useful feature for large projects which can be subdivided into
smaller units and corresponding information entered separately so that
information can be processed faster and more clearly. The following seven
modules are utilized to store "basic" data of the irrigation system such as:
Climate, Soils, Crops, Physical Infrastructure, Land Tenure, Project Staff and
Machinery (for O&M tasks). This information is shared by another seven
modules that are management tools covering the main aspects of managing
an irrigation system and they include:
- Agricultural activities (crop production, area planted, production costs,

crop prices and others).
- Crop water requirement (for all crops grown in the project).
- Seasonal irrigation planning (allowing matching of supply and
demand).
- Irrigation scheduling (under different methods: fixed rotation, on
demand, rational, soil moisture balance).
- Water Consumption (control of water used by every farm).
- Accounting/O&M activities (control of costs).
- Water fees (determination of fees under different hypotheses and
preparation of bills for every farmer, control of payments.
The last four modules are for setting the work environment and
include: output setting, password, re-indexing and reconfiguration of files
when required.
SIMIS has the following useful characteristics:
Adaptability: The program has been developed in DBase IV to facilitate the

transfer of information already collected in this Database system and others
that are compatible with it. Furthermore the system has been developed to
suit many situations but when local adaptation of terminology may be found
indispensable the screens for entry of data and the reports generated can be
easily modified.
Modularity: The Project Management modules are independent - although

they share the same basic information - and therefore concerned staff may
select to use the modules that are relevant to them leaving aside those that
may be relevant to other people or systems. In case of need new modules
can be added to care for a specific local application.
Simplicity of use: Users do not need to know database systems. SIMIS

operates on the basis of simple menus and descriptive screens for the entry
of data.
Multilingual: All the texts of the program are stored in separate databases
permitting their translation with only minor changes in the program. At
present the English and Spanish versions are available and the French is
being prepared.
Data safety: Accidental or intentional loss of valuable data can represent a

heavy economic damage and lost of confidence in the system. To minimize
this problem SIMIS permits the access of authorized users through a system
of passwords with different degree of access to the information.
Applications
The program has been first distributed to a few institutions under restricted
conditions which include the sponsoring of a training course for interested
professionals and testing and verification of the system in a pilot area.
Distribution of the program has started now that the testing phase has been
completed.
System requirements
SIMIS installation requires 15 Mbytes of the hard disk and to run the
applications it is convenient to have another 10 Mbytes free. A 386 PC
running at 25 or 33 MHz is the minimum configuration
A first version of the software was completed at the end of 1993 and
the system is now under testing in several countries.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Contact address:
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,

Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome, ITALY
Internet: HTTP://WWW.FAO.ORG/WAICENT/Agricul.htm
On distribution and sales

FAO - Publications Division - Distribution and Sales Section
Viale delle Terme Di Caracalla, 00100 ROME, ITALY
Fax: ++39 6 5225 3152/ ++39 6 5225 5155/ ++39 6 578 2610.
E-mail: Publications-Sales@FAO.org
The FAO Publications Catalogue can be accessed on Internet at
gopher: //gopher.fao.org/ or http://www.fao.org .
The following Internet pages can also be consulted for more detailed
information on AGL systems:
- land , land resources, land use (planning):
http://www.fao.org/waicent/FaoInfo/Agricult/AGL/agls/aglshome.htm
- water (resources), irrigation:
http://www.fao.org/waicent/FaoInfo/Agricult/AGL/aglw/aglw.htm
- sustainable development, natural resources:
http://www.fao.org/waicent/Faoinfo/SustDev/EIdirect/EIhomepg.htm
http://www.fao.org/waicent/Faoinfo/Agricult/AGL/aglsSoil
Resources
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
Demand for land and water information for improved decision making in
land and water at all levels is increasing due to the increasing pressure on
use of the limited land and water resources worldwide. To address
sustainable food production and food security and sustainable use of natural
resources issues, systems are needed which can be used not only to asses
but also to monitor land and water use.
The challenge to AGL is to put in place the systems needed to

generate and disseminate quickly and economically the information
products, including images, maps, tabular and textual reports for the
elaboration of various kinds of information useful for land and water
decision at the various levels and the infrastructure and organization
required to make the systems operational and viable.
To meet this challenge AGL needs to organize information systems

and improved decision support systems based on existing systems and tools
and available and prospective information technologies.
AGL has spent considerable efforts and resources in providing a

variety of information and support services to promote the use of the
individual systems and transfer skills and technology to member countries
through field projects, pilot studies and training programmes. However,

some of the systems were not always adopted by the relevant users and
organisations to the degree expected. Information products are under-
utilised or sometimes not used at all.
A number of reasons can be indicated, including: slow pace and

relatively high costs of implementation; lack of appropriate hardware and
software; lack of appropriate, accessible data; inappropriate models and
deficient decision support tools; lack of user-friendliness; lack of awareness
of the usefulness and benefits of the systems; lack of user access to
information products; inappropriate solutions; lack of continuity and
sustainability due to lack of financial support.
The systems themselves are independent land or water systems with

separate, disjoint sub-systems which were designed and implemented
without consideration to compatibility. The global databases have many
deficiencies: lack of data and poor data quality.
Many of these constraints appear again and again in implementations

of similar systems world wide. However some of the issues are more acute
in developing countries, fuelled by the inappropriateness of sophisticated
and delicate hard and software in these countries.
The advent desktop GIS workstations, PC -networks, rapid application

development environments and multimedia tools, in particular the Internet,
now provides developers with potential solutions to the above problems. In
this light a number of systems are being created, at a fraction of the cost
and in a fraction of the time. More success is already evident with desk top
management packages being utilized by increasing number of organizations
and interest has been generated in many more similar products and GIS
based tools.
This a created a tendency to proliferate systems without

consideration to aspect of sustainability in terms of maintenance and cost at
a time of reduced manpower and financial resources.
It is evident that demand for land and water information and

knowledge at all levels is increasing rapidly everywhere in the world. Also
the need for synthetic knowledge is increasing. An appropriate strategy and
appropriate information systems are required to generate and disseminate
the various types of land and water information products more efficiently.
It is proposed here as a possible solution to link systems under a

common umbrella or framework and arrange them in toolboxes (Fig. 4).
Systems and tools could be redesigned to integrate the needs and level of
skills of various users. For instance GIS-based programs and mapping-based
programs can be combined or linked to cover the requirements of two kinds
of users: 1) users analysing and generating information who need the
capability of a full GIS to analyse multiple data layers, geo-referenced in
specific co-ordinate systems allowing them to determine location on Earth
and a fields position relative to all other fields in the farm, commune,
district, province or country; 2) many end users of information who only

need to map data and layer data for visualization, and perform descriptive
statistics on one layer at a time; for these users mapping packages are
sufficient . Mapping is only a subset of the functionality of a GIS system.
Whereas a GIS uses coordinate systems and enables analysis on multiple
data elements and variables, enabling the user to create new layer from
information in existing layers a mapping based system is for display
purposes only, it will display a picture of which the location is not known.
Additional modules to integrate real-time GPS navigation capability and to
import remotely sensed imagery for display and analysis can be
incorporated in the GIS/map systems to enhance the capability and broaden
the scope of use of the integrated systems.
Systems designed for site-specific agriculture will play a increasingly

significant role in addressing land productivity at field level for food
production for instance. There will be important developments in light of the
increasing acreage worldwide requiring dryland management practices. The
challenge still remains to tackle these aspects in the context of FAOs future
food security programme . With these new technologies and tools in a
toolbox it is theoretically feasible to develop and implement effective rapid
GIS for land and water management area for instance in a very short,
intensive manner. The success of the concept relies on integrating recent
advances in information technology: rapid application development
environment; rapid data creation and capture via remote sensing and Global
Positioning System; desktop environment: software and hardware with an
effective and motivated team, consisting of local researchers and
managers; GIS/RS and Information technology experts, scientists i.e. land
and water resources planners and managers; extension workers.
If this kind of integration can be achieved the basis of an effective GIS

base management system could be developed in a matter of months,
instead of years. This would include: standard procedure for the
development of GIS databases and systems including user needs
assessment, data requirements analysis, etc., critical databases; initial land
and water resources management tools; GIS and multi-media skills and
capacity developed in local staff; and supporting software and hardware
technology.
It is important to demonstrate that by focusing on a dedicated team

of people and through the use of modern day technology at field level the
process can be speeded up, to a level where real progress and benefits
could be seen within the first months.
The rapid implementation concept of a GIS based information

systems is needed to overcome the issues impeding the uptake of GIS in
land and water : lack of awareness about the potential of GIS and RS and to
some extent the cost issue.
FIGURE 4
Flow Diagram of a possible Land and Water Resources Information System Toolbox
Data Collection
and screening
DATA INPUT
Map preparation
GIS
IMAGE PROCESSING
MODEL BASE
Interface
SPATIAL &
TABULAR
DATABASE
Interface
DATABASE
MANAGEMENT
DECISION SUPPORT
SYSTEM
OUTPUT
Interface
ANALYSIS
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brinkman R. 1994. Recent Developments in Land Use Planning, with special

reference to FAO, pp 1122. In Fresco et al 1994.
FAO, 1976. A Framework for Land Evaluation. Soils Bulletin 32. Rome.
FAO, 1978. Report on the Agro-Ecological Zones Project (1978-1981), Vol.1:

Methodology and Results for Africa. World Soils Resources Report
48/1. Rome, 1981.
FAO, 1986. Yield Response to Water. Irrigation and Drainage Paper 33. Rome
FAO, 1991. Agro-Ecological land resources assessment for agricultural

development planning: A case study of Kenya. World Soils Resources
Reports 71/1-9. Rome, 1991.
FAO, 1992. CROPWAT A Computer Program for Irrigation Planning and

Management. Irrigation and Drainage Paper 46. Rome
FAO, 1993. Global and National Soils and Terrain Digital Databases (SOTER)
Procedures Manual. World Soil Resources Report 74. Rome.
FAO, 1993. CLIMWAT for CROPWAT A Climatic Database for Irrigation

Planning and Management. Irrigation and Drainage Paper 49. Rome
FAO, 1995. Planning for Sustainable Use of Land Resources: Towards a New
Approach. Land and Water Bulletin 2. FAO, Rome ,60 pp.
FAO, 1995: Irrigation in Africa in Figures. Water report No 7. Rome.
FAO ,1996. Users Manual of SIMIS (Version 2.0). Provisional Text. Rome.
FAO, 1997: Irrigation in the Near East in Figures. Water report No 9. Rome.
FAO (in press): Irrigation in the Former Soviet Union in Figures.
FAO/AT2010, 1995. World Agriculture: Towards 2010, An FAO Study. Edited

by N. Alexandratos. Published by FAO and J.Wiley & Sons, 1995.
Fischer G et al., 1996. Multiple Criteria Land Use Analysis. International

Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) Working Paper WP-96-
006.
Makowski, M.1994. Methodology and a modular tool for multiple criteria

analysis of LP models, Working Paper WP-94-102, International
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, 1994b.
Rossiter, D.G. 1988. ALES: a microcomputer program to assist in land

evaluation. Proc. International Workshop on Land Qualities in Space
and Time, Wageningen, the Netherlands, 22-26 August 1988. Pudoc,

Wageningen.

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Technical Consultation on Land and Water Resources Information Systems 1

Information technology and

Table 1 summarises some of the main issues related to sustainable

Level of analysis Scale/spatial resolution 1) Issue

LAND AND WATER INFORMATION DATABASE

MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

Other Units AGL Info Other Units

AGL LAND AND WATER INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Currently AGL systems comprise a set of tools to store and analyse

- the physical computing capacity to manipulate data, including

- the related capacity to query the data by formulating hypotheses for

- the capacity to relate two-dimensional and three-dimensional

b) Models for water balance, crop water requirements and irrigation

c) Remote sensing techniques to characterize and map land cover, land

3) Decision support tools

a) Expert systems tools to provide advice on deciding on land and water

b) Multi-Criteria Decision Support (MCDS) to analyse optimal land and

4) Documents and publications

AGL has a documentation centre which collects and maintains two

- a collection of FAO and non/FAO technical documentation (country

- a map collection containing thousands of local maps which were used

AGL Documentation Centre uses an adaptation of the ISIS software to

AGL uses INTERNET and INTRANET facilities to disseminate

AGL takes advantage of the three principal interactive and

FAOSTAT, for the storage and dissemination of statistical information,

In particular AGL uses the services of the FAOINFO Group of WAICENT

DESCRIPTION OF MAIN INFORMATION AND DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM TOOLS

Corresponding to the three areas of applications mentioned above there are

1) land resources assessment systems;

Land resources assessment systems

Agro-Ecological Zoning (AEZ) System

The main system for land resource assessment is FAOs agro-ecological

When to use AEZ

Useful as a tool of assessment of land resources for better planning and

land resource inventory;

The AEZ concept involves the representation of land in layers of spatial

AEZ models are applied on the database to analyse potentials of land

(1, 2) formulation of LUTs and their ecological requirements;

Two software packages have been prepared to implement AEZ models:

Global and regional

The database has been used in global land productivity potential

BASE DE DONNEES: BASE DE DONNEES:

AEZ is available as FAO Publications in the form of reports in English, French

Multi-Lingual Soil Database (SDBm)

When to use SDBm

Database tool useful for storage of primary soils information assembled at

SDBm is a collection of programs written in CLIPPER 5.2 and C languages

Options for simple statistical analysis: calculation of weighted averages

Read/write facility to communicate with other SDBm databases and

Examples of SDBm applications

Soil And Terrain (SOTER) Database

When to use SOTER

SOTER utilizes a Relational DataBase Management System (RDBMS) and

The database is supported by a Procedures Manual which translates

A current SOTER project envisages to create a separate database for each

So far SOTER databases have been established in various countries in

ISRIC Secretariat: Soil@isric.nl. Contact person in FAO:

Digitized Soil Map Of The World (DSMW)

Soils and Terrain Database for East Africa

This is a database program for storage, display, interpretation and analyses

The databases are currently installed on the computers of FAO's Geographic

DSMW is published as CD-ROM (version 3.5, November 1995).

FAO/ITC Land Use Database