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A Landscape Evaluation Decision Support System
Alachua County, Florida

In support of the Objectives of the Conservation and Open Space Element of the 2001-2020 Comprehensive Plan for Alachua County, Florida, a project was conceived, designed and implemented by the GIS Division at the Growth Management Department, in partnership with the Information Center for the Environment (ICE) at the University of California, Davis.

Screenshot of the UMB Model in ArcMap This project developed a Landscape Evaluation Model for Alachua County (LEMAC), using the Universal Model Builder (UMB) developed at ICE and further enhanced by us. This model (a rule based system), provides for a characterization of our ecological boundaries and strategic ecosystems and can be run in a participatory collaborative environment. It creates a strategic framework for natural resource protection in support of decisions on developments of regional impacts, development applications, special area plans, transfer of development rights, etc.

More than thirty five spatial layers were considered for the current run of LEMAC with the UMB. UMB is a desktop application that runs on ArcGIS 9.1/Spatial Analyst over vector and raster datasets. Click here for its process flow. In addition to enhancing the UMB we also developed a web based light version of LEMAC. You can run it from this site with your own weighting over the nine basic layers we offer. At the end of the model's run, you will be able to explore your own results from this site, using the interactive GIS Mapper developed in house at our GIS Division. We have implemented the Mapper, using the Open Source GIS MapServer developed at the University of Minesota - an OGC compliant development environment.

Free to All

The UMB model is not proprietary and is made available free to all. This web site offers free access to the UMB model including its source code; offers free access to LEMAC's input data/metadata, to a user guide, to related maps, reports etc. Anyone wanting to use our model with better data, better methods, etc. is welcomed to download all of the UMB and LEMAC components from our site. For questions, criticisms and for sharing your insights, please use our discussion board.