National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis

This report presents the findings of the first specialist meeting of NCGIA Research Initiative 15, held at the Upham Hotel in Santa Barbara, California, March 9-11, 1995. Research Initiative 15 focuses on the role of GIS in global change research. The importance of GIS can only increase as global change research becomes more data- and computation-intensive, as it moves from studies of single processes to integrated modeling, as it struggles to link human and physical processes, and as it places more emphasis on policy formulation and decision-making. The report is in four sections. Following an introductory section describing the NCGIA and the objectives of Research Initiative 15, the second section presents a synthesis of findings from the first specialist meeting. This is followed by more specific reports from each of the three working groups formed at the meeting. A list of participants and the position papers written prior to the meeting by the participants form the appendices.