Development of a Web-based Multi-criteria Spatial Decision Support System for the assessment of environmental sustainability of dairy farms

Abstract

The assessment of the environmental sustainability of agricultural infrastructures involves the use of multiple evaluation criteria and the analysis of geographical information. A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system capable of assembling, storing, analysing, and displaying geographically referenced information. However, the GIS technology still suffers from several shortcomings due in large part to a lack of capable analytical capacity of supporting spatial decision problems. The most common solution for GIS to evolve into an effective tool for decision support is to couple them with operational research tools and in particular Multicriteria Decision Aid (MCDA). Due to the technological advances in the field of information systems, there is a great need to research how to integrate GIS, MCDA, the Internet, modeling and databases aiming at creating Web Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support Systems (Web MC-SDSSs). A Web MC-SDSS methodological framework is proposed for a fully integrated system of GIS and a specific MCDA method – ELECTRE TRI, through the construction of a Macro written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in ArcGIS software. This macro interacts with a Web Algorithm Server for computing MCDA results. The developed Web MC-SDSS, named ELECTRE TRI in ArcGIS, is applied on a case study analysing the environmental sustainability of dairy farms in the Entre-Douro-e-Minho (EDM) Region.