SYSTEM CONCEPT FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS INCORPORATING A USER-BASED APPROACH

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION IS CRITICAL TO THE OPERATION AND SUCCESS OF ANY MILITARY GROUND UNIT; THE VALUE OF SUCH INTELLIGENCE IS PROVEN BY THE EXISTENCE OF LARGE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GISS) THAT PRODUCE TACTICAL DECISION AIDS (TDAS) SUPPORTING C2 FUNCTIONS. TWO MAJOR DEFICIENCIES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN CURRENT SYSTEM: GISS ARE DIFFICULT TO USE IN A TACTICAL FIELD ENVIRONMENT AND THEY PRODUCE STATIC OUTPUTS THAT MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVELY MODIFIED WITHOUT STARTING OVER. A CREATIVE SYSTEM INTEGRATION APPROACH IS CALLED FOR; THE PROPOSED APPROACH TAKES ADVANTAGED OF CURRENT ADVANCES IN THREE ENABLING TECHNOLOGY AREAS. FIRST, ADVANCED ARCHITECTURES AND STANDARDS (HIGH PERFORMANCE WORKSTATIONS, X-WINDOWS, MOTIF, UNIX) SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE COMPLEX SYSTEMS. SECOND, ADVANCE GIS TECHNIQUES MAKE POSSIBLE A STEP INCREASE IN SYSTEM RESPONSIVENESS. THIRD, A USER-BASED DESIGN MITIGATES THE TRAINING ISSUES AND DRIVES THE DEFINITION AND SPECIFICATION OF A MORE EFFECTIVE HUMAN-MACHINE INTERFACE. THE RESULTING SYSTEM PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION WIDLL REFLECT AN APPROACH THAT INCORPORATES THE NEWER ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES, AND PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY, BUILDS IN THE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS AT THE FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION LEVEL.