Automated industrial site selection using elevation models and digital image processing

In the past five to ten years, much thought has gone into ways in which the state of Tennessee might compete succesfully for large scale industial development. One service that may be provided in the future for outside industries looking to move to Tennessee would be a comprehensive, personal computer based system to efficiently select the optimal site for plant location. For this thesis research, three steps have been taken toward this goal. First, a computerized system for mapping possible sites based on slope was created on a personal computer connected to a mainframe computer. Second, aerial photographs were converted to digital form and placed on floppy diskettes for use in an image processing system on a personal computer. Third, data base files were created to store information gathered from the first two techniques according to overlying "themes" of information. Though refinements still need to be made, the three steps in automated industrial site selection can be viewed as a platform upon which more sophisticated techniques can be built.