Web-based Spatial Decision Support Systems (WebSDSS): Evolution, Architecture, Examples and Challenges

Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS), which support spatial analysis and decision making, are currently receiving much attention. Research on SDSS originated from two distinct sources, namely, the GIS community and the DSS community. The synergy between these two research groups has lead to the adoption of state of the art technical solutions and the development of sophisticated SDSS that satisfy the needs of geographers and top-level decision makers. Recently, the Web has added a new dimension to SDSS and Web-based SDSS (WebSDSS) are being developed in a number of application domains. This article provides an overview of the emergence of SDSS, its architecture and applications, and discusses some of the enabling technologies and research challenges for future SDSS development and deployment.