A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM APPROACH FOR RIVERS MONITORING AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT B. MANOS 1* , TH. BOURNARIS 1 , N. SILLEOS 2 , V. ANTONOPOULOS 3 and J. PAPATHANASIOU 1 1 Laboratory of Agricultural Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; 2 Laboratory of Applications of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems in Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; 3 Laboratory of Agricultural Hydraulics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece ( * author for correspondence, e-mail: manosb@agro.auth.gr) (Received 10 December 2002; accepted 23 June 2003) Abstract. This paper presents a Decision Support System (DSS) approach developed in the context of the Copernicus project entitled System for Water Monitoring and Sustainable Management based on Ground Stations and Satellite Images (WATERMAN). The main objective of WATERMAN is the monitoring and management of the Strymon River in the Southern Balkans. The specific DSS integrates the main components of WATERMAN and helps the decision maker to monitor the Stry- mon region; to control and forecast the quantity and quality of the river water; as well as to make objective decisions about the state of the water based on data provided by radio computers, earth stations and satellite images processed by mathematical and statistical models and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Keywords: decision support systems, sustainable management, water monitoring 1. A Short Description of WATERMAN WATERMAN is a monitoring and water management system for the transborder Strymon River in the Southern Balkans. The rivers in this region have become extremely polluted as a result of industrial growth. This fact makes their permanent monitoring imperative. Therefore, WATERMAN is concerned with the analysis of the water quality and sources of pollution. It also makes prognoses and recom- mendations about future industrial production. Its purpose is to assist government agencies, river basin commissions, and other authorities, in making decisions in order to efficiently monitor and manage water resources both in terms of quantity and quality. The Strymon River is one of the most important rivers in the Balkans. It has an extensive hydrological basin of 17 330 km 2 from which 8670 km 2 are in Bulgaria, 6295 km 2 in Greece and 2365 km 2 in Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. There is also a great number of cascades of dam lakes in this region. Thus, another aim of WATERMAN is the prognostication and control of the quantity and Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 96: 85–98, 2004. © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.