Potential landfill site selection for solid waste disposal using GIS and multi-criteria decision analysis(MCDA)

Proper solid waste disposal is an important socioeconomic concern for all developing countries.Municipalities have their own policies,individual approaches and methods to manage the solid wastes.They consider wastelands outside the urban area as the best suitable for the solid waste disposal.Such improper site selection will create morphological changes that lead to environmental hazards in the urban and its surrounding areas.In this research,the site selection for urban solid waste disposal in the Coimbatore district used geographical information system(GIS)and multi-criteria decision analysis(MCDA).Thematic layers of lineament density,landuse/landcover,population density,groundwater depth,drainage density,slope,soil texture,geology and geomorphology were considered as primary criteria and weights for criteria,and sub-criteria were assigned by MCDA analysis.The resultant weight score was validated by consistency ratio so that the efficiency of the selected criteria was justified.The overlay analysis in GIS environment provides 17 potential zones in Coimbatore district,among which,four suitable sites were screened and refined with the help of field investigation and visual interpretation of satellite image.The result of landfill suitability map shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Holistic approach of GIS based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis(MCDA) and WetSpass models to evaluate groundwater potential in Gelana watershed of Ethiopia

Appropriate quantification and identification of the groundwater distribution in a hydrological basin may provide necessary information for effective management,planning and development of groundwater resources.Groundwater potential assessment and delineation in a highly heterogeneous environment with limited Spatiotemporal data derived from Gelana watershed of Abaya Chamo lake basin is performed,using integrated multi-criteria decision analysis(MCDA),water and energy transfer between soil and plant and atmosphere under quasi-steady state(WetSpass)models.The outputs of the WetSpass model reveal a favorable structure of water balance in the basin studied,mainly using surface runoff.The simulated total flow and groundwater recharge are validated using river measurements and estimated baseflow at two gauging stations located in the study area,which yields a good agreement.The WetSpass model effectively integrates a water balance assessment in a geographical information system(GIS)environment.The WetSpass model is shown to be computationally reputable for such a remote complex setting as the African rift,with a correlation coefficient of 0.99 and 0.99 for total flow and baseflow at a significant level of p-value<0.05,respectively.The simulated annual water budget reveals that 77.22%of annual precipitation loses through evapotranspiration,of which 16.54%is lost via surface runoff while 6.24%is recharged to the groundwater.The calibrated groundwater recharge from the WetSpass model is then considered when determining the controlling factors of groundwater occurrence and formation,together with other multi-thematic layers such as lithology,geomorphology,lineament density and drainage density.The selected five thematic layers through MCDA are incorporated by employing the analytical hierarchy process(AHP)method to identify the relative dominance in groundwater potential zoning.The weighted factors in the AHP are procedurally aggregated,based on weighted linear combinations to provide the groundwater potential index.Based on the potential indexes,the area then is demarcated into low,moderate,and high groundwater potential zones(GWPZ).The identified GWPZs are finally examined using the existing groundwater inventory data(static water level and springs)in the region.About 70.7%of groundwater inventory points are coinciding with the delineated GWPZs.The weighting comparison shows that lithology,geomorphology,and groundwater recharge appear to be the dominant factors influence on the resources potential.The assessment of groundwater potential index values identify 45.88%as high,39.38%moderate,and 14.73%as low groundwater potential zones.WetSpass model analysis is more preferable in the area like Gelana watershed when the topography is rugged,inaccessible and having limited gauging stations.

A Risk-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Approach to Evaluating Transboundary Water Development—The Case of Lower Mekong River Basin

The Lower Mekong River basin (LMB) covers the lower part of the Mekong river basin, including Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Due to numerous pressures from high population growth and intensive hydropower development, the LMB has been facing significant challenges concerning its biodiversity and ecosystem. In 2017, Mekong River Commission (MRC), an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1995 among LMB countries, established the Council Study, which analysed the impacts of water development scenarios concerning the environmental, socioeconomic aspects of the LMB. This paper explores the nature of risks to the LMB water development and subsequently evaluates LMB’s water development scenarios described in the Council Study by using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method. MCDA method has been widely applied in the field of water resource management in order to assist the decision-making process by systematically evaluating a certain number of alternatives against well-selected criteria through a preference rating scheme. By implementing a risk-based comprehensive assessment of the LMB transboundary water, this study provides insights into the impacts of the increasing risks to the ecosystem and human beings on the water development of the basin over time, which assists to change the awareness and the perspective toward humans’ risks and transboundary river ecosystem of decision-makers. This paper provides valuable recommendations for MRC to improve their policy concerning benefit-sharing scheme, water planning and risk mitigation strategies.

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Usage Based Optimization of Powertrains

The electrification of powertrains leads to an increasing diversification of powertrain configurations. Each single configuration has its specific advantages which appear depending on the usage profile. To find the usage based optimal powertrain in consideration of a variety of evaluation criteria, the powertrains have to be optimized for the usage profile and characteristics have to be extracted from the usage profile. The carbon dioxide emissions of the optimized powertrains and usage based criteria are used in a multi-criteria decision analysis to determine the optimal powertrain for a specific usage profile. The description of characteristic maps forms the objective function of a minimization problem. The determined carbon dioxide emissions are one criterion in a multi-criteria decision process. All considered criteria are at least partly objective so that subjective ratings are eliminated as far as possible. The result is an optimized powertrain for a desired usage under the consideration of objective criteria that are extracted from the usage profile.

“AniFair”:A GUI Based Software Tool for Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis--An Example of Assessing Animal Welfare

Multi-criteria decision analysis deals with decision problems in which multiple criteria need to be considered. The criteria might be measured on different scales so that comparability is difficult. One approach to help the user to organize the problem and to reflect on his or her assessment on the decision is Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation TecHnique (MACBETH). Here the user needs to provide qualitative judgment about differences of attractiveness regarding pairs of options. MACBETH was implemented in the M-MACBETH software using the additive aggregation model. The present article introduces the software tool “AniFair” which combines the MACBETH approach with the Choquet integral as an aggregation function, because the Choquet integral enables the modeling of interaction between criteria. With the Choquet integral, the user can define constraints on the relative importance of criteria (Shapley value) and the interaction between criteria. In contrast to M-MACBETH, with every instance of “AniFair” the user is made available at least two aggregation level. “AniFair” provides Graphical User Interfaces for the entering of information. The software tool is introduced via an example from the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for pigs. With this, “AniFair” is applied to real data that were collected from thirteen farms in Northern Germany by an animal welfare expert. The “AniFair” results enabled a division of the farms into five groups of comparable performance concerning the welfare principle “Good feeding”. Hereby, the results differed in how much the interaction between criteria contributed to the Choquet integral values. The shares varied from 5% to 55%. With this, the vulnerability of aggregation results towards relative importance of and interaction between criteria was stressed, as changes in the ranking due to the definition of constraints could be shown. All results were exported to human readable txt or csv files for further analyses, and advice could be given to the farmers on how to improve their welfare situation.

A Decision Support System for Spatial Analysis of Agricultural Production in Madagascar

In this article, our research aims to set up a geo-decisional system, more precisely we are particularly interested in the spatial analysis system of agricultural production in Madagascar. For this, we used the spatial data warehouse technique based on the SOLAP spatial analysis tool. After having defined the concepts underlying these systems, we propose to address the research issues related to them from four points of view: needs study of the Malagasy Ministry of Agriculture, modeling of a multidimensional conceptual model according to the MultiDim model and the implementation of the system studied using GeoKettle, PostGIS, GeoServer, SPAGO BI and Géomondrian technologies. This new system helps improve the decision-making process for agricultural production in Madagascar.

Benefit-Risk Assessment of Chinese Medicine Injections for Primary Liver Cancer Based on Multi-criteria Decision Analysis

ObjectiveTo evaluate the benefit-risk of 3 commonly used Chinese medicine injections, Aidi Injection (ADI), Cinobufagin Injection (CINI) and Compound Kushen Injection (CKI), in the treatment of primary liver cancer (PLC), so as to provide a reference for clinical decision-making.MethodsRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ADI, CINI and CKI in the treatment of PLC published in the databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, China Science and Technology Journal Database, SinoMed, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were retrieved from January 2020 to October 2022. The data of benefit and risk indicators were combined to obtain the effect value. The multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) model was applied to build the decision tree. The benefit value, risk value and benefit risk value of the 3 injections in PLC treatment were calculated. Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to calculate the 95% confidence interval and probability of differences among the 3 injections, so as to optimize the evaluation results.ResultsA total of 71 RCTs were included. The benefit values of ADI, CINI and CKI combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) were 42, 38 and 36, respectively. The risk values were 42, 25 and 37, respectively. The benefit risk values were 42, 31 and 37, respectively. The benefit risk differences of ADI vs. CINI, ADI vs. CKI, and CKI vs. CINI were 11 (−0.86, 17.75), 5 (−5.01, 11.09), and 6 (−1.87, 12.63), respectively. The probability that ADI superior to CINI, ADI superior to CKI, and CKI superior to CINI was 96.26%, 77.27%, and 92.62%, respectively.ConclusionBased on the results of MCDA model, CINI combined with TACE has the greatest risk in the treatment of the PLC. Considering the efficacy and safety, the possible priority of the 3 Chinese medicine injections combined with TACE in the treatment of PLC is ADI, CKI and CINI.

Groundwater Exploration Using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Central Nigeria

There exists a growing demand for potable water resources to fill the abysmally insufficient water needs for domestic and industrial especially in the Basement Complex terrains of Nigeria. This situation is attributable to its complex hydrogeologic character. The present challenge has worsened due to the non-incorporation of integrated methods in groundwater exploration campaigns. To effectively combat the challenge of unacceptable failure rates in drilled water well development, there is a need for innovative scientific principles and quantitative assessment of groundwater resources to enhance sustainable and proper utilisation of these resources. Hence, it is the objective of this research to exploit the potential application of remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS), and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques and freely open datasets in mapping groundwater potential zones. Seven thematic maps have been produced based on factors that are deemed to influence and deemed to have significant control on the occurrence and movement of groundwater. These factors are geology, lineament density, slope, drainage density, rainfall, land-use/land cover, and soil class. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to assign normalised weights to the thematic maps based on the various relative contributions to groundwater occurrence and movement. These thematic maps were then processed in a GIS environment using the Weighted Overlay tool which implements the MCDA. The resulting Groundwater Potential Zones (GPZ) of the area gave rise to Five classes viz: Very good, Good, Moderate, Poor and Very Poor representing 19%, 8%, 14%, 47% and 13% respectively. It is recommended that the GPZ map should be used as a reconnaissance tool for selecting prospective sites for detailed groundwater resource exploitation.

Multi-Criteria Wildfire Risk Hazard Assessment in GIS Environment: Projection for the Future and Impact on RES Projects Installation Planning

It is alarming for the fact that Wildfires number, severity and consequently impact have significantly increased during the last years, an aftermath of the Climate Change. One of the most affected areas worldwide is Mediterranean, due to the unique combination of its type of vegetation and demanding climatic conditions. This research is focused on the Region of Epirus in Greece, an area with significant natural vegetation and a range of geomorphological aspects. In order to estimate the Wildfire Risk Hazard, several factors have been used: geomorphological (slope, aspect, elevation, TWI, Hydrographic network), social (Settlements and landfils, roads, overhead lines and substations), environmental (land cover) and climatic (Fire Weather Index). Through a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in a GIS environment, the Wildfire Risk Hazard has been estimated not only for current conditions but also for future projections for the near future (2031-2060) and the far future (2071-2100). The selected case study includes the potential impact of the Wildfires to the installed (or targeted to be installed) RES projects in the studied region.

Sanitary Landfill Site Selection Using Multi-criteria Analysis Evaluation:Case Study of Dibra Region,Albania

Landfill is a common solution for the final disposal of MSW(Municipal Solid Waste)in Albania.Landfill sitting is an extremely difficult task to accomplish because the site selection process depends on different factors and regulations.To ensure that an appropriate site is chosen,a systematic process should be developed and followed.In this study,10 candidate sites for an appropriate landfill area in Dibra Region are determined by using the MCE(Multi-criteria Evaluation).From the application of the exclusion criteria provided in the study methodology,it was able to find the best three alternatives.The statistical processing for the determination of the best place was accomplished through MCA(Multi-criteria Analysis)and Environmental Management,for three scenarios with different weights of criteria.The application of this method has led to the identification of the most suitable site for the construction of sanitary landfill in the Dibra Region.

Spatial Analysis and Modelling of Wind Farm Site Suitability in Nasarawa State, North-Central Nigeria

There has been an increasing global and local interest in developing renewable, clean, and cheap energy towards achieving Goal number 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). However, decisions involving suitable and sustainable locations for renewable energy projects remain an important task. This study employed Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to spatially analyze and model wind farm site suitability in Nasarawa State. The aim is to integrate the environmental, social, and economic aspects of decision-making for identifying sustainable wind farm sites. The study distinguished between two sets of decision criteria: decision constraints and decision factors. The former defined the exclusion zones while the latter were standardized based on fuzzy logic to depict varying degrees of suitability across the State. The MCDA applied the weighted linear combination method, with relative weights generated through pairwise comparisons of the analytic hierarchy process to analyze three policy scenarios: equal weights, environmental/social priority, and economic priority scenario. A combination of resulting composite maps from the constraints and the factors gave the final suitability maps. The resulting suitability index (SI) for the respective policy scenario describes the degrees of suitability: Ideal locations were denoted by one (1) and the not suitable locations by zero (0), with values in-between depicting varying degrees of wind farm site suitability. Based on the SI, priority locations indicating areas with good prospects, in addition to the most suitable parcels of land, were identified and delineated. The composite decision constraint revealed that wind farm projects would not be viable in more than half (57.58%) of the State. Wind speed was the major constraint and accounted for the exclusion of 46.25%, with a mean fuzzy membership value of 0.2008 indicating low suitability across the State. Also, the average acceptable wind farm location for the three-policy scenario was 33.33% of the entire study area. Lafia, Obi, Keana, Awe, Nasarawa-Eggon, Wamba and Kokona LGAs were the identified priority Local Government Areas (LGAs). However, only Lafia, Obi, and Nasarawa-Eggon were consistent with changes in the policy objectives. All the priority LGAs have one or more of the most suitable parcels within their administrative boundaries except for Wamba. Despite the severe limitations of wind speed, substantial parts of Nasarawa State still provide great development potentials for wind energy. The “most suitable” locations in Lafia, Nasarawa-Eggon, and Obi LGAs should have first consideration for the development of wind energy in the State.

A new hybrid decision support tool for evaluating the sustainability of mining projects

The integration of sustainable development challenges and opportunities into the decision making process during the design and/or implementation of multi-disciplinary mining projects is generally not supported by decision support systems(DSS). A new hybrid decision support tool, which features an integrated assessment of sustainable development issues as they apply to mining projects, is hereby proposed. The proposed DSS framework, named ‘‘Acropolis DSS", can be used to assist involved stakeholders in critical decisions, especially when addressing issues such as stakeholder participation, transparency,and trade-offs. The proposed DSS is based on a multi-criteria decision analysis combined with the multi-attribute utility theory.

Study and Analysis of Chennai Flood 2015 Using GIS and Multicriteria Technique

Terrain characteristics of the land and meteorological properties of the region are the main natural factors for flood. The recent flood in Chennai was unexpected and not triggered by the above factors. Sometimes floods occur when the watershed size is considerably small which leads to the over flow of water inland may due to the encroachment and the urban development of the city. Temporarily used backwater effects in sewers and local drainage channels and creation of unsanitary conditions may cause flooding. Chennai flood was basically claimed to occur due to improper drainage system and underlying strata which was found to be landfill over the ponds and lakes. The Coouam River which flows through the centre of main city was found silting due to the improper drainage facilities and encroachment by the local peoples who causes flood. For the analysis of potentially affected areas Geographical Information System (GIS) integrated with Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) were employed. Ranking and displaying the potentially risky areas, the spatial Multicriteria analysis was used. It has been revealed that all most all the area’s having populations are likely to be exposed to flood hazard. At the end of study, a map of flood risk areas was generated and studied with a view to assisting decision makers on the consequences posed by the disaster.

Effectiveness of Fuzzy Overlay Function for Multi-Criteria Spatial Modeling—A Case Study on Preparation of Land Resources Map for Mawsynram Block of East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya, India

Multi-criteria spatial modeling is one of the important components of spatial decision support system (SDSS). Multi-criteria spatial modeling often requires a common scale of values for diverse and dissimilar inputs to create an integrated analysis. Weighted overlay function is most commonly used for site suitability analysis which identifies the most preferred locations for a specific phenomenon. However, weighted overlay function gives inconsistent and erroneous results for highly dissimilar inputs as it assumes that most favorable factors result in the higher values of raster, while identifying the best sites. This paper conveys the effectiveness of fuzzy overlay function for multi-criteria spatial modeling. It is based on the principle of fuzzy logic theory which defines membership using Gaussian function on each of the input rasters instead of giving individual rank to them like in weighted overlay function. A case study on preparation of land resources map for Mawsynram block of East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, India is presented here. It was observed that fuzzy overlay function has given more satisfactory output in terms of site suitability while comparing with the result of weighted overlay function.

基于GIS技术的国土空间规划与城市设计决策支持系统研究

本文引入GIS技术应用于国土空间规划与城市设计决策,并对其进行了实证分析。在此基础上,将多源信息融合,建立一套有效的GIS支撑系统,对研究区进行精细分析与仿真。通过对GIS空间分析的研究,为规划人员与设计者提供充足的数据支撑与决策基础,提高规划的科学性与有效性。同时,该系统具有三维造型与可视化的能力,可以将项目的设计方案以可视化的方式展现出来,并对其发展趋势进行预测,从而为项目的顺利进行提供强有力的保证。经实例验证,本研究成果对提升规划质量与效率,促进决策透明化、民主化具有重要意义。但是,在数据质量和系统运行等方面,也存在着一些问题。在今后的工作中,将对系统的功能进行进一步的完善和改进,使GIS技术更好地应用于国土空间规划和城市设计决策中。

A cyberGIS-enabled multi-criteria spatial decision support system: A case study on flood emergency management

With the increased frequency of natural hazards and disasters and consequent losses,it is imperative to develop efficient and timely strategies for emergency response and relief operations.In this paper,we propose a cyberGIS-enabled multi-criteria spatial decision support system for supporting rapid decision making during emergency management.It combines a high-performance computing environment(cyberGIS-Jupyter)and multi-criteria decision analysis models(Weighted Sum Model(WSM)and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution Model(TOPSIS))with various types of social vulnerability indicators to solve decision problems that contain conflicting evaluation criteria in a flood emergency situation.Social media data(e.g.Twitter data)was used as an additional tool to support the decision-making process.Our case study involves two decision goals generated based on a past flood event in the city of Austin,Texas,U.S.A.As our result shows,WSM produces more diverse values and higher output category estimations than the TOPSIS model.Finally,the model was validated using an innovative questionnaire.This cyberGIS-enabled spatial decision support system allows collaborative problem solving and efficient knowledge transformation between decision makers,where different emergency responders can formulate their decision objectives,select relevant evaluation criteria,and perform interactive weighting and sensitivity analyses.

Gap analysis in decision support systems for real-estate in the era of the digital earth

Searching for a property is inherently a multicriteria spatial decision.The decision is primarily based on three high-level criteria composed of household needs,building facilities,and location characteristics.Location choice is driven by diverse characteristics;including but not limited to environmental factors,access,services,and the socioeconomic status of a neighbourhood.This article aims to identify the gap between theory and practice in presenting information on location choice by using a gap analysis methodology through the development of a sevenfactor classification tool and an assessment of international property websites.Despite the availability of digital earth data,the results suggest that real-estate websites are poor at providing sufficient location information to support efficient spatial decision making.Based on a case study in Dublin,Ireland,we find that although neighbourhood digital earth data may be readily available to support decision making,the gap persists.We hypothesise that the reason is two-fold.Firstly,there is a technical challenge to transform location data into usable information.Secondly,the market may not wish to provide location information which can be perceived as negative.We conclude this article with a discussion of critical issues necessary for designing a spatial decision support system for real-estate decision making.

Multi-criteria land evaluation for suitability analysis of wheat:a case study of a watershed in eastern plateau region,India

Improper land use results in land degradation as well as decline in agricultural productivity.To obtain optimum benefit from the land,proper utilization of its resources is necessary.Land suitability analysis is the evaluation and grouping of specific areas of land in terms of their suitability for a defined use,which is a precondition for sustainable land use planning.This study investigated the applicability of Geographical Information System(GIS)techniques in combination with multi-criteria land evaluation for analysing land suitability.The study used the weighted overlay technique for multi-criteria evaluation with GIS for the assessment of suitability of wheat cultivation in Beko watershed(Purulia,India).The watershed area is moderately suitable for wheat crop production,with constraints like imperfect drainage and poor soil depth.

Indexing habitat suitability and human-elephant conflicts using GIS-MCDA in a human-dominated landscape

Concerns for biodiversity loss, wildlife conservation, and habitat destruction have dominated the policy agenda worldwide for decades. Unsustainable human-induced development and negative interaction between humans and wildlife have emerged as predominant issues globally. The present study deals with human and elephant conflicts (HEC) in the Polpitigama Divisional Secretariat, Sri Lanka, which is located in the Kahalla-Pallekele elephant corridor and connects Wilpattu and Kaudulla wildlife sanctuaries. The research objectives are identifying spatial patterns of elephant habitat suitability and probable risk zones for HEC. The elephant habitat suitability and HEC risk zones were identified on spatial and temporal scales using Geographic Information System integrating Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. Different factors, including habitat suitability, distance to roads, distance to croplands, distance to forests and protected areas, settlements, and population density, were considered to determine HEC risk zones in the area. Topography, water, and vegetation criteria are considered when determining elephant habitat suitability. The results of the Analytic Hierarchy Process run the spatially explicit model. The results revealed that of the total area, 15.3% is very highly suitable for elephant habitats, while the least suitable areas contribute only 4%. About 33.8% of the area is moderately suitable for elephants. The risk map indicates that 23.7% of the total area is under very high risk for HEC, and the least risk areas only account for 5.4%. About 26.2% of the area falls under the moderate risk zone for HEC. Since the model considered three aspects of HEC, it will help policymakers in wildlife conservation to avoid and minimize the HEC.

Determination of groundwater potential distribution in Kulfo-Hare watershed through integration of GIS, remote sensing, and AHP in Southern Ethiopia

Identification of groundwater potential areas(GPA)is important in regions facing surface water scarcity,as it assists in effective planning and utilization of groundwater for various purposes.This study employs the methods of remote sensing(RS),geographic information system(GIS)model,and analytical hierarchy process(AHP),multi-criteria decision analysis(MCDA)to locate and map the prospective groundwater areas in the Kulfo-Hare watershed.Seven significant groundwater influencing factors were selected for the determination of groundwater potential in the area:Geology,land use/land cover(LULC),soil,rainfall,slope,drainage density,and lineament density.By applying a five-class classification scheme(very low,low,moderate,high,and very high),the GIS models were used to define the distribution of groundwater potential areas in terms of area coverage(km^(2)),percentage and mapping.The results show that the groundwater potential(GWP)distribution in the research region is as follows:9.7%(6035.9 ha)classified as very high GWP,29.6%(18606 ha)classified as high,24.5%(15245 ha)classified as moderate,18.1%(11431 ha)as low and 18.1%(11492 ha)very low GWP,on the basis of the weighted overlay evaluation.Although a few regions are identifies as extremely low GWP,most of the study area is characterized by very high to moderate GWP.These findings provide valuable insight for sustainable groundwater planning by the government bodies,decision-makers,and private sectors.