Evaluation Methods to Support the Comparison of Maps for Environmental Decision Making

In environmental management the performance of policy alternatives is often represented in maps. These maps show the spatial distribution of the impact of policy alternatives. The decision maker is asked to use these maps to compare alternatives and ultimately to select the one preferred. Since most people use reference maps, such as road maps, maps are familiar to people and are expected to represent reality. Decision makers are therefore happy to use maps to support their decisions (see for example Kohsiek et al. 1991).