ABSTRACT
The application of artificial intelligence to spatial data processing, including both remotely sensed and digitized spatial data, was not well explored before this paper was published in the International Journal of Geographical Information Systems in 1998 (Eklund et al., 1998). It was common at that time to apply expert or knowledge-based system techniques to spatial data, as shown by Wang and Newkirk (1988) and Johnsson and Kanonier (1991). Knowledge-based system approaches were used to interrogate various attributes in data layers to color a map or perform feature extraction, but ours is the first paper in the geospatial sciences to use knowledge and data discovery techniques for decision support in secondary salinization. An excellent survey of work done using knowledge discovery in the geosciences in general can be found in Yuan et al. (2004). The contribution of this chapter lies in the application of techniques from artificial intelligence to the problem domain of secondary salinization. The original paper published in the International Journal of Geographical Information Systems was revised, updated, and improved for inclusion in this book. Permission for this purpose was sought and granted for by Taylor & Francis.
