Dm. Martens et Jf. Dibiase, TCM-MANAGER - A PC-BASED TOTAL CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM, Environmental software, 11(1-3), 1996, pp. 1-7
To date, little research effort has been directed towards developing a
catchment-based resource management decision support system (DSS) tha
t adequately integrates technical environmental information and sophis
ticated computer computational and graphical techniques. The environme
ntal industry is currently without a rapid and cost-effective PC-based
method by which to manage water catchments and assess the accumulated
impacts of proposed development activities. A computer simulation sys
tem called TCM-Manager has been developed to assist the understanding
of and management of complex land-use changes. The distributed model t
akes a catchment approach and applies the principles of total catchmen
t management (TCM) to simulate the impacts of land-use change on envir
onmental hows. Although extensive site-specific calibration is possibl
e depending on existing environmental databases, TCM-Manager requires
only initial study area topographic and land-use data to predict water
, sediment and nutrient fluxes.Two time scales may be simulated. STORM
simulations make use of coupled surface-subsurface distributed models
to determine short-duration storm hydrographs and pollutographs. ANNU
AL simulations estimate yearly water and contaminant flows. Both simul
ations require minimal information for immediate operation. Multiple,
hierarchical and complex land-use changes may be simulated so that acc
umulated impacts of management decision scenarios can be assessed. The
strength of TCM-Manager is that it provides an accessible, realistic
and user-friendly graphical platform from which extensive preliminary
catchment impact assessment, planning and management may be performed.
It is intended to be used by resource managers and has been construct
ed to facilitate use without extensive calibration and user-expertise.
Under this philosophy, the system is also suitable for secondary and
tertiary education, environmental engineering and sensitivity analysis
. The system provides several report formats that summarise simulation
s, determine water quality compliance, partly interpret results, and p
rovide decision support based on simulation findings. Copyright (C) 19
96 Elsevier Science Ltd