Abstract
The application of multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques in real-life problems has increased in recent years. The need to build advanced decision models with higher capabilities that can support decision-making in a broad spectrum of applications, promotes the integration of MCDM techniques with applicable systems, including artificial intelligence, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are among the most widely adopted MCDM techniques capable of resolving water resources challenges. A critical problem associated with water resource management is dam site selection. This paper presents a comparative analysis of TOPSIS and AHP in the context of decision-making using GIS for dam site selection. The comparison was made based on geographic and water quality criteria. The geographical criteria are geology, land use, sediment, erosion, slope, groundwater, and discharge. The water quality criteria include Soluble Sodium Percentage, Total Dissolved Solid, Potential of Hydrogen, and Electrical Conductivity of water. A ratio estimation procedure was used to determine the weights of these criteria. Both methods were applied for selection of optimal sites for dams in the Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. The results show that the TOPSIS method is better suited to the problem of dam site selection for this study area. Actual locations of dams constructed in the area were used to verify the results of both methods.
Highlights
The economic merits of dams outweigh the detriments and costs, providing a good reason for construction of dams around the world
The results showed that the fuzzy TOPSIS approach provided different rankings of the best sites for treated wastewater (TWW) compared to a traditional multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique, highlighting the need for fuzzy-based MCDM
To implement TOPSIS in our study, the first task consists of checking the routes of streams using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) layer and finding locations that are suitable for constructing a dam based on the valley shape
Summary
The economic merits of dams outweigh the detriments and costs, providing a good reason for construction of dams around the world. A well-selected site will provide direct benefits, but its careful design can provide the additional benefit of a recreational area surrounding the reservoir. A poorly selected site could cause detrimental influences such as negative biophysical, socio-economic, and geopolitical impacts, often through the loss of ecosystem services provided by fully functioning aquatic systems [2,3,4,5]. For selection of dam sites, it is necessary to conduct a precise study over the interest area considering factors affecting this selection. This procedure is costly and time consuming. With advances in computing and information technologies, determining competitive solutions in terms of cost, time, and a variety of other objective variables is greatly facilitated
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