Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software and the increasing power of desktop computers have created useful tools for the management of cave and karst resources. This includes tools for: 1) the bookkeeping of large, complex spatial data sets, 2) analysis and quantitative modeling of karst processes, and 3) visualization of both spatially and temporally complex data. Over the last several years, the advent of Environmental Systems Research Institute's (ESRI) Arcview package has made GIS more accessible to users in the karst science and management community. Using ArcView GIS and Arc/Info, the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute (HERI) has been working to create tools that enable more powerful analyses of karst aquifers. Our two major efforts are working toward: 1) the analysis of the karst network's time-series spatial data (hydrographs and chemographs through space and time) and 2) the georeferenced placement and visualization of cave features to prepare them for three-dimensional analysis.

Team Leaders: Alan Glennon and Stuart Foster