Expert Systems for Environmental Screening. An Application in the Lower Mekong Basin

This research report describes MEXSES, a rule-based expert system for environmental impact assessment at a screening level, implemented for the analysis of water resources development projects in the Lower Mekong Basin. The report makes a brief review of environmental impact assessment methods and tools. It discusses expert systems technology, with emphasis on environmental applications. The Lower Mekong Basin and its specific environmental problems, as well as the Mekong Secretariat's environmental policy are examined. Subsequently, the software system is described from a user's perspective, followed by a detailed description of the methodology employed and its implementation. In the final chapter, a number of issues around the successful application of such a system are discussed, including a number of suggested improvements and extensions to the current operational prototype