Temporal change monitoring using an environmental information system for Yonezawa City of Japan

The paper presents the design of an information system capable of assessing the various resources in the region, detecting the changes occurring in their physical extent and producing several products or reports which may be of use to resources planners and decision makers. The proposed design is capable of enabling dynamic assessments for spatial and temporal change analysis and other query based reports. The products and results can provide useful inputs to agencies involved in urban planning, environmental monitoring, forest conservation and agricultural development. The scheme, therefore, offers an insight into the design of a system for efficient planning and monitoring in the region and may serve as a prototype for a more comprehensive and operational decision support system for macro-level planning and development.