Date of Award

Fall 12-1-2000

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Geography, Geology, and Anthropology

First Advisor

Paul W. Mausel

Second Advisor

C. Mark Cowell

Third Advisor

David W. Hutchison

Abstract

The objective of this research is to develop cost-effect and accurate methods to identify optimal restorable drained wetland cropland sites. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data analysis was used to identify the potential cropland candidate sites in the initial step. The result of digital TM data analysis shows that the overall classification accuracy in identifying classes of potential restoration candidate hydric soils is 86.7%. This accuracy shows that the TM data digital analysis is a cost-effective method for identifying poorly drained cropland hydric soils potentially suitable for wetland conversiOn. To support multi-factorial analysis in the final site screening, a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) has been developed to help decision-makers in selecting the premier cropland candidate sites identified by TM data analysis for wetland restoration by integrating MapObjects with a fuzzy Multiple Criteria Evaluation (MCE) method. The test application of the SDSS system was successfully conducted in an 11 x 10 square kilometer study area located in the Eel River watershed of northeastern Indiana. The factors considered in this application were primarily focused on the study area's physical suitability, but the methods developed in this research are sufficiently robust that they can be extended to analyze economic and cultural parameters. The following conclusions have been drawn from the research: • TM data digital analysis is a cost-effective method for identifying potential wetland restoration sites. • The Soft Transcope, a software package developed by the author, was effectively used for land use mapping and GIS databases updating. • MCE model developed was proved to be technically appropriate for addressing multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems. • The Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) is a useful tool to help decision-makers identify the best cropland candidate sites based on physical factors for wetland restoration. The methods developed can be potentially applied in whole watershed statewide or nationwide.

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