Customizing ArcMap interface to generate a user-friendly landfill site selection GIS tool

Abstract

ArcGIS Desktop, one the most well known GIS packages, is designed as a scalable system that can be deployed in every organization, from an individual desktop to a globally distributed network of people. Since ArcGIS is built using Microsoft's component object model (COM) technology, it is customizable and possible to extend using any COM-compliant development language. In the present study, ArcMap v8.2, a component of ArcGIS Desktop, is customized using the built-in Microsoft Visual Basic for applications (VBA) language, to create a user-friendly toolbar, called landfill site selection (LSS) toolbar, specifically designed for preliminary landfill site selection. Such a tailored ArcMap environment will enable engineers with different level of knowledge of GIS, to investigate and compare results of applying different criteria, constraints and scoring schemes on the final suitability map for a landfill site in an area.* (Abstract shortened by UMI.) *This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Microsoft Office.