Automated Land Evaluation System (ALES)

ALES (Automated Land Evaluation System) is a computer program that allows land evaluators to build their own expert systems to evaluate land according to the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation of 1976. The entities evaluated by ALES are map units, which may be defined either broadly (as e.g. in reconnaissance surveys and general feasibility studies) or narrowly (as e.g. in detailed resource surveys and farm-scale planning). Since each model is built by a different evaluator to satisfy local needs, there is no fixed list of land use requirements by which land uses are evaluated, and no fixed list of land characteristics from which land qualities are inferred. Instead, these lists are determined by the evaluator to suit local conditions and objectives. ALES is extremely flexible and fairly scale-independent and can be used for land evaluations at sub-national, landscape and local, community or project levels. ALES is not a GIS but can be linked to IDRISI GIS software through its ALIDRIS module. ALES has not been updated for the Windows operating system, but can run in a DOS window of a Windows 32-bit version.

ALES software, documentation and source code can be downloaded from http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/dgr2/research/ales/ftp/index.html.