Evolution of a continental-scale geographical information system

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Abstract
The first parts of this paper describe the establishment and consolidation of the Australian Resources Information System (ARIS)a continental-scale computerized geographical information system (GIS) designed to provide decision support for a range of small-scale problems of resource utilization. Data sets assembled in ARIS and their interfaces to analytical, mapping and data manipulation packages are outlined. Data sets are held against administrative and grid cell mapping units and describe, inter aliasoils, vegetation, lithology, terrain, climate, population, land use and infrastructure. Packages used for data manipulation include LUPLAN (land use planning), PATN (numerical taxonomy), MAP (geographical relationships), REGION (region description)and CART (classification and regression trees). The latter parts of the paper focus on describing (a)spin-off research into the nature and use of data in GIS and (b) a cross-section of resource analysis projects which have made use of the data resources and/or data manipulation capabilities of ARIS. Research since 1982 has addressed methods of capturing map data, storing geo-data, assessing the accuracy of gridded data, new data sources, decision-support modelling and region description. Applications projects have included large-area studies of roading costs, viability of pastoral enterprises and the design of a national high-speed ground transport system. The paper concludes with a discussion of prospects for whole-country resource information systems such as ARIS.