A Computer-Based Approach to Environmental Impact Assessment

Fedra, K. (1990). A Computer-Based Approach to Environmental Impact Assessment. IIASA Research Report (Reprint). IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: RR-91-013. Reprinted from Proceedings of the Workshop on Indicators and Indices for Environmental Assessment and Risk Analysis, A.G. Colombo and G. Premazzi (eds), ECSE-EEC-EAEC, Brussels/Luxembourg, pp. 11-40 [1990].

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Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requires the qualitative and quantitative prediction, assessment and evaluation of the impacts of human activities on the environment in terms of appropriate indicators. Various types of models are major tools for the prediction and analysis of these impacts. They must describe environmental systems in terms of those indicators that environmental law and regulations define and prescribe to evaluate the severity of impacts.

In this report, methods and procedures for EIA, the relationship between indicators, standards, and methods, and in particular the use of computer-based tools, models and expert systems, that combine traditional modelling approaches with new techniques of artificial intelligence (AI) and dynamic computer graphics, are demonstrated by a number of application examples in air, surface and groundwater modelling, as well as risk analysis. Drawing on application examples from Europe, the United States, China, India and Thailand, the paper discusses some general features and emerging trends in EIA.

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