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Home > CIIMA > Vol. 4 (2004) > Iss. 1

 

Communications of the IIMA

Using IT and GIS to Improve Crop Assesments

Abstract

Without attacking the issue of marijuana, it is practically impossible to meet the stated goals of the President's overall plan for decreasing illicit drug use. Within this context, this paper will examine the most authoritative data published by the U.S. government agencies that specialize in counter-narcotics issues. The objective of this paper is to describe how IT and GIS can help the drug policy community by providing possible better estimates of illegal crops. Pioneering work in imagery and crop estimation was done by the US Dept of Agriculture as far back as the 1930's. Archeologists use modern GIS techniques to develop areas of interest for historical digs. Specifically, a DSS design is presented, relying on three components: Functions necessary for the generation of a cueing layer, functions that interface with the Digital Mapping Server, and functions demanded by state agencies. The practicability of this approach has been demonstrated in a pilot project in the state of Mississippi, and is thus advocated. Deploying the Beta version of the model increased eradication efficiencies by an estimated 21% according to the lead Law Enforcement Agency using the technology in the state of Mississippi. Following this success, efforts are currently underway to deploy the technology in both the Appalachian region and the state of California — both high production areas of interest.

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