Land Data Management System for Resource Planning

Land and water resource planners are increasingly faced with the problem of working with a growing mass of natural resource and man-made features data. A digital computer-based Land Data Management System (Land DMS) intended to resolve this problem by providing an efficient means to store, retrieve, analyze, and display land data is described. Land data is comprehensive in that it denotes all those types of natural resources and man-made features data having an areal characteristic. A 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) cell is the basic unit in the Land DMS. Five practical applications of Land DMS are described—graphic and tabular display of data, delineation of environmental corridors, formulation of diffuse source pollution abatement alternatives, assembly of input data for hydrologic-hydraulic models, and preparation of report artwork. Systems such as the Land DMS can optimize the use of the available data base and thereby substantially contribute to the quality of the decision making process in land and water resources planning.