Site Selection Considerations Research Articles

LAND SUITABILITY ANALYSIS FOR URBAN GARDENING USING GIS-BASED MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION-MAKING APPROACH

The application of the Geographical Information System (GIS) extends beyond mapping and includes an analysis of attribute and geographical data, identification of behavioural patterns, and visualisation of positional analysis outcomes. The system provides accurate coordinates, enabling functions such as storage and retrieval, pattern search, and model creation in GIS applications. One widely adopted approach for land-use identification involves utilising GIS operations to establish databases and conduct analyses. Thus, this study utilises ArcGIS software tools to determine the suitability of land and optimal location for the development of community gardens in Shah Alam. Decision-making was based on multiple criteria, and to ensure accurate and comprehensive data, the researchers employed a qualitative method similar to expert interviews. Related government agencies and authorities, as well as experts, provided input through three separate expert interviews. Findings from the interviews highlighted the significance of land slope, elevation, land use, proximity to settlements, road accessibility, and water access as important considerations for site selection in urban gardening or community gardens. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of GIS methods in obtaining such results and recommends that future research focus on assessing the potential for sustainable development by leveraging GIS techniques.

Wavelength-dependent Image Quality Predictions and Other Considerations for Site Selection and Instrument Design

Stellar image motion measured differentially with small telescopes can be converted to image quality predictions for large telescopes at the same site. To demonstrate this methodology, multi-wavelength seeing distributions are predicted for Las Campanas Observatory based on the Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) results from the Giant Magellan Telescope site survey. The observed seeing distribution at 0.5 μm is used to compute a family of predicted seeing distributions from 0.32 to 4.7 μm. Tokovinin’s formula is used to transform the DIMM seeing distributions (based on Kolmogorov theory) to the large telescope image sizes expected in the von Karman theory. The latter framework includes an outer scale, or largest size, for the turbulent eddies above a telescope. The impact of seeing distributions on site selection and on telescope and instrument design are discussed. Other considerations in selecting an excellent site are also listed and explained.

Soil radioactivity and elemental characterization of area proposed for the first nuclear power plant at Red Sea state, eastern Sudan

Abstract This work was carried out with the aim to establish baseline data of soil radioactivity prior commissioning the first nuclear power plant for electricity production in the Sudan. A total of 105 soil samples from the proposed area were collected and analyzed using Gamma-ray spectrometer, X-ray Fluorescence and Atomic Absorption. Ambient dose rates were measured during sampling using radiation survey meters. Based on radionuclides in soil; some radiological hazard indices (such as absorbed dose rates, Radium-Equivalent Activity, External Hazard, and Gamma index) were computed. The results exhibit that226Ra, 232Th,40Kand 137Cs concentration ranged from0.55-88.9, 1.63-76.6, 24-1100 and 0.001-1.03 Bq/kg with an average value of10.43, 11.12, 361.2and 0.045Bq/kg respectively. The average value of absorbed dose rate(29.92nGy/h), Radium equivalent (70.55 Bq/Kg), external hazard (0.19), Gamma index. (0.25) and those parameters are lower than the corresponding global average. The results of the study revealed that the average values of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs fall within the global average value. GIS Predictive exhibited the spatial distribution of radioactivity trends with low levels at eastern part towards the Red Sea while high values observed at the desert (western part). This trend in addition to low levels has a very good impact to decision makers for consideration in site selection of NPP. Pearson correlation coefficient shows a correlation between the variables 226Ra and 232Th (0.69); Cr and Au (0.82); Br and Nb (0.84),Hf and Sb (+0.75) with no significant correlations between radioactive and radioactive elements. Keywords: Road map, GIS, Gamma-ray Spectrometer, Effective dose.

Geographical Considerations in Site Selection for Small Modular Reactors in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is one of Canada’s highest emitters of greenhouse gases, largely due to the burning of lignite coal to generate electricity. The province is also the world’s second largest producer of uranium. This research was intended to establish a process for evaluating geographical considerations in site selection for small modular reactors (SMRs) in Saskatchewan. SMRs are the next generation of electrical power, producing less than 300 megawatts (MW) and featuring a basic design that offers enhanced safety, health, and environmental benefits compared to traditional reactors. Selecting an SMR site is a two-stage process: (i) Identifying candidate site locations based solely on available geographical, economic, and logistical data—an objective process—and (ii) refining the potential locations based on public perceptions, social conventions, and political will—a subjective process. This study focused on the objective geographical considerations in SMR site selection in Saskatchewan. The study areas were subjected to a multi-criteria decision analysis based on specific criteria drawn from various Canadian federal regulation documents. Criteria weights were assigned using the analytical hierarchy process, with results for two different types of criteria weights applied for the purpose of demonstration. Three distinct cases of criteria fuzzy standardization were conducted to assign spatial suitability values for all the criteria. Spatial decision-making models were implemented in a geographic information system to identify candidate sites. Geographical maps constructed from the findings showed suitable sites for SMRs, ranging from very suitable to unsuitable based on the geographical analysis of the study area.

Beyond affordable shelters: Subsidized housing and surrounding environments for pedestrian safety

Beyond the provision of affordable housing itself, planners and policymakers have raised concerns as to whether subsidized housing developments provide “suitable living environments” for the nation's poor. Despite numerous concerns regarding unfavorable living environments and the neighborhood context of subsidized housing, we have limited understanding as to whether built environments around subsidized housing ensure pedestrian safety. This study addressed this gap by examining how built environments around Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) sites affect pedestrian-vehicle crashes in Austin, Texas. We employed the two-level negative binomial regression to clarify the impacts of street segment-level and neighborhood-level built environments on pedestrian crashes around LIHTC complexes. We found that higher speed roads, traffic-generating land uses, higher transit stop densities, and higher four-or-more-leg intersection densities may hinder pedestrian safety. Conversely, local roads as well as single-family residential parcels and connected sidewalks along street segments may enhance pedestrian safety around LIHTC complexes. Our results may inform planners and policymakers on how to enhance pedestrian safety for subsidized housing by modifying surrounding environments and how to provide better site selection considerations for subsidized housing to ensure pedestrian safety.

Spatial Factors Consideration in Site Selection of Ground-mounted PV Power Plants

Typically, the demand of electricity is normally high in urban areas and it will be increasing sharply when there are some events attracting visitors to the urban area. Thailand, an example of this situation, has announced five mega-cities as the places for Meeting, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) since 2002. Definitely, Thai government and electricity organizations have supported the solar energy as the alternative energy due to the clean renewable energy and sustainability. Various factors, generally, social-economic and environmental factors have been intensively studied in order to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the PV system. According to a requirement of large area to construct a ground-mounted PV system, it is extremely crucial to carefully determine all related spatial factors for investigating the potential areas. This study aims to identify all those spatial factors considered in finding a potential area for PV power plant. This study applied the documentary analysis to explore the spatial factors from successful PV power plants. The real situations, impacts, and issues in term of spatial factors were compiled and designed as spatial database applicable to implement with the Geographic Information System. The result of this study shows the structured spatial database acquired in a ground-mounted PV system construction. This study is useful for governments, developers, and investors to investigate potential areas for PV power plants.

Integration of ecosystem-based models into an existing interactive web-based tool for improved aquaculture decision-making

Proper site selection is critical to the development and expansion of marine aquaculture. Major considerations for site selection include: potential for competing uses, environmental interactions, and animal productivity. Two types of existing site selection tools, mapping and modeling, have proven useful independently, and in some recent studies have proven useful when used together. GIS-based mapping tools have become important in the decision-making process. These tools provide access to marine and coastal datasets allowing farmers and extension agents to gather information on availability of cultivation sites. They are also used by resource managers to assess potential use conflicts (e.g. existence of commercial fishing, mooring areas, fixed fishing gear) and possible environmental interactions (e.g. presence of seagrasses, contaminants, threatened or endangered species). Models have been used separately to predict animal growth, farm productivity, and farm-related effects on the surrounding water and sediment quality.The integration of the Farm Aquaculture Resource Management (FARM) model (http://www.farmscale.org) into the U.S. state of Connecticut's Aquaculture Mapping Atlas (http://seagrant.uconn.edu/whatwedo/aquaculture/shellmap.php) was tested in three geographically distinct waterbodies within Connecticut (CT) waters of Long Island Sound. Nearshore waters within the towns of Mystic, Milford, and Westport were selected as pilot locations to determine usability and capability of the combined tools. Data from two long-term offshore sampling stations adjacent to existing shellfish leases were used to test spatial and temporal sampling variability impacts on model results. Partnerships with local monitoring programs and growers were important for acquisition of water quality data, oyster measurement data, and information about local culture practices. All sites were deemed suitable for oyster aquaculture based on model results that predicted Moderate to High growth based on estimated time to reach harvest size from one in (2.54cm) seed oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Time to harvest varied from 282days (High growth) to 645days (Moderate growth) among the 22 stations in the three nearshore sites, and 724–956days (Moderate growth) at the two offshore sites. Results from the two long-term offshore stations indicate that data from the same year must be used when comparing production-based suitability of sites. Addition of potential production estimates improved the ability to select between suitable mapping-based sites. This mapping and modeling combination should be encouraged to provide a strong basis for successful siting and expansion of aquaculture while minimizing user conflict and adverse environmental interactions. This approach may be particularly useful in waterbodies where shellfish aquaculture is possible but is not well established.

Inter-Municipal Landfill Site Selection Using Analytic Network Process

Selecting the most suitable landfill site is important to prevent any negative ecological and socio-economic effects. Spatial analysis takes into consideration local environmental regulations and adopted acceptance criteria that are important considerations in site selection. This paper is a case study to determine the suitability of an inter-municipal solid waste landfill site for the city of Khomeynishahr and its six adjacent cities, with a total population of half a million people. A multi-criteria evaluation method emphasising geographical information systems (GIS) techniques was used to identify suitable landfill sites. A combination of Boolean logic, Fuzzy logic and Analytic Network Process (ANP) was used for prioritising the associated criteria and selecting a suitable landfill site. This method is capable of being applied to complex problems with uncertainty and non-hierarchical structure and allows for the consideration of interdependence relationships of decision criteria within and between levels. Taking advantage of the ANP method, the selected landfill site priorities can be identified by considering the variation and relative importance of decision criteria for each site, which cannot be considered in other decision-making methods, such as Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results showed the significant importance of residential area and water resources protection in landfill site selection. This study indicates that the integrated method can provide environmental decision makers and planners with a promising tool.

Site Selection Considerations of Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant in China

With conversion of nuclear development strategy from “proper development” to “positive development” in China, the future nuclear power scale and the amount of the spent nuclear fuels will be enormous, the construction of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant will be necessary to meet the sustainable development requirement. Because of the huge investment and high environmental sensitivity, the site selection of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant has always been the focus of controversy. This article summarizes the site selection considerations from the technical feasibility, safety reliability, environmental compatibility and economic rationality for further discussion about the scientific site selection of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in China.

Asynchronous interconnection of large-scale photovoltaic plants: site selection considerations

Large-scale penetration of photovoltaic (PV) energy in a distribution network requires careful planning of its location on the distribution network since it evidently demands large space, flexible maintenance access and exposure to driving energy sources such as sunlight for PV plants. Besides that, the technical aspects of the design should consider possible constraints that may introduce inefficiency in the generation or simply unexpected loss in the distribution. This paper addresses the decentralisation requirement for large-scale deployment of PV power sources as it resists the intermittency of the PV output naturally. In this study, a Monte Carlo method was used to justify the validity of this implication. A modified Gaussian distribution function was used to model the random fluctuations of the PV source and was used in the Monte Carlo simulation. The result shows considerable boost in the average power level and suppression of the fluctuation rate while the interconnected sources are uncorrelated.

Coordination and management of multisite complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies: Experience from a multisite reflexology intervention trial

Background Multisite randomized clinical trials allow for increased research collaboration among investigators and expedite data collection efforts. As a result, government funding agencies typically look favorably upon this approach. As the field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) continues to evolve, so do increased calls for the use of more rigorous study design and trial methodologies, which can present challenges for investigators. Purpose To describe the processes involved in the coordination and management of a multisite randomized clinical trial of a CAM intervention. Methods Key aspects related to the coordination and management of a multisite CAM randomized clinical trial are presented, including organizational and site selection considerations, recruitment concerns and issues related to data collection and randomization to treatment groups. Management and monitoring of data, as well as quality assurance procedures are described. Finally, a real world perspective is shared from a recently conducted multisite randomized clinical trial of reflexology for women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Results The use of multiple sites in the conduct of CAM-based randomized clinical trials can provide an efficient, collaborative and robust approach to study coordination and data collection that maximizes efficiency and ensures the quality of results. Conclusions Multisite randomized clinical trial designs can offer the field of CAM research a more standardized and efficient approach to examine the effectiveness of novel therapies and treatments. Special attention must be given to intervention fidelity, consistent data collection and ensuring data quality. Assessment and reporting of quantitative indicators of data quality should be required.

Ethical, Social, and Cultural Considerations for Site Selection for Research with Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

Recent advances in technology have made strategies for disease control using genetically modified (GM) vectors more plausible. Selecting an appropriate field site for research with GM mosquitoes may be one of the most complex and significant aspects of the research process. Among the key considerations of the process is the need to address ethical, legal, and cultural (ESC) issues. No guidelines have been developed to date for this complicated and sensitive process. In this paper, we describe a site selection process and a set of preliminary considerations for addressing the ESC aspects of a research program involving genetic strategies for the control of mosquitoes as vectors for dengue viruses. These considerations reflect some of the key ESC issues for site selection decisions for research with GM vectors.

Selection of the Mars Pathfinder landing site

The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft will land on a depositional fan near the mouth of the catastrophic outflow channel, Ares Vallis (19.5°N, 32.8°W). This site offers the prospect of analyzing a variety of rock types from the ancient cratered highlands, intermediate‐age ridged plains, and reworked channel deposits. Analyses of these rocks by Pathfinder instruments will enable first‐order scientific questions to be addressed, such as differentiation of the crust, the development of weathering products, and the nature of the early environment, as well as their subsequent evolution on Mars. Constraints imposed by (1) spacecraft and rover designs (which are robust), (2) entry, descent, and landing, (3) scientific potential at various sites, and (4) safety were important considerations in site selection. Engineering constraints require a 70 km by 200 km smooth, flat (low slopes) area located between 10° and 20°N that is below 0 km elevation, with average radar reflectivity, little dust, and moderate rock abundance. Three regions on Mars are between 10° and 20°N and below 0 km elevation: Chryse, Amazonis, and Isidis‐Elysium. Science considerations favor sites at the mouths of outflow channels (grab bag sites offer an assay of rock types on Mars), highland sites (early crustal differentiation and climate), and sites covered with dark (unoxidized) material. Sites are considered safe if they are clearly below 0 km elevation, appear acceptably free of hazards in high‐resolution (<50 m/pixel) Viking orbiter images and have acceptable reflectivity and roughness at radar wavelengths, thermal inertia, rock abundance, red to violet ratio, and albedo. Recent 3.5‐cm wavelength radar observations were used to verify elevation, reflectivity, and roughness within the landing ellipses. Three sites meet all of these criteria: Ares Vallis, Tritonis Lacus, and Isidis. Although Isidis appears to be safer than Tritonis and Ares, the greater scientific potential at Ares Vallis resulted in its selection. Comparisons of the Grand Coulee (channel) and the depositional Ephrata Fan of the Channeled Scabland in eastern Washington, with Ares Vallis and its depositional fan also suggest the Ares Vallis landing site is safe and scientifically interesting.

Well Site Selection—a Deep Subject

This month's question concerns selecting the best site for drilling a new well. The answer states that the two most important considerations in site selection are well yield and water quality. The first step is to study available data at the state and federal geological and water resources agencies. The article lists what to look for as far as water quality issues, aquifer contamination, treatment costs vs. storage costs, seismic and resistivity tests, computer modeling, and sources of contamination.

Considerations for Capping Subaqueous Dredged Material Deposits

Capping is the controlled, accurate placement of contaminated dredged material at a disposal site which is covered by a cap of clean isolating material. Capping projects are typically categorized as either level-bottom placement or contained aquatic disposal. Field experience with subaqueous capping is limited, but 11 sites have been identified where the technique has been applied. Site selection considerations for capping projects are similar to those for any open-water disposal. The influences of several site characteristics on capping have been identified and discussed. Modeling methods are available to aid in evaluating sites and designs. Additional information on cap materials, placement, and monitoring techniques are provided.

Health, Safety and Environmental Criteria for Siting of Laboratory Facilities

The development of applicable criteria for assessing the suitability of a site for construction of full and partial containment laboratories for the analysis of unknown and highly toxic chemicals is described. The criteria, based on considerations of health, safety and environmental factors, are used to define critical considerations in site selection to minimize the risk to non-laboratory personnel and the surrounding environment. Criteria are synthesized from several sources using the assumption of a worst-case chemical release. Mechanical failures, human failures, critical events and social/legal limitations are investigated, as are the characteristics of a site which may limit construction of such a facility. A detailed description is made of the various types of laboratories and the types of samples analyzed in them. The final recommendations are summarized for five typical laboratory settings; they are based primarily on the potential impacts on people, property and natural resources. A single occupancy building in a rural setting is recommended as the most suitable site for a full containment laboratory. A single occupancy building in an industrial park setting is acceptable, while multiple occupancy buildings and sites which are more highly developed are unacceptable. Similar recommendations are made for partial containment and conventional laboratories.

Environmental and engineering problems of an agro-industrial complex for the north-eastern region of the Mediterranean

Economical and technological decision-making problems facing the realization of agro-industrial complexes are analyzed with a critical assessment of earlier studies and of current recommendations. A typical complex is suggested for unpopulated desert region with the objective of providing a worldwide free enterprise, of solving some of the current global problems including food shortage, and of establishing an industrial base to serve as a realistic medium for transfer of technology in a practical form. Taking into account the present state of affairs in the area and the strategic importance of the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Mediterranean the north-eastern coastal region of the Mediterranean is chosen as a possible site for the complex. Site selection is based on several factors; such as accessibility; availability of transportation routes, coolant charges, and potential markets for the products; and suitability of climate and meteorological conditions. The availability Of easy to acquire raw material and strategic resources are included in the site selection considerations. This is based on current data and projected future plans. Problems associated with the implementation of the project in the selected site are discussed in details. These involve agricultural problems, financing, ownership, control, communication, geopolitical problems, expatriates, management, and organization. Safety problems typical of an area vulnerable to war is considered as well as the environmental effects of the industrial and agricultural activities. The impact of the realization of the complex on the people and the economy of the region is also analyzed.

Site Selection Considerations for the Transmitter for Limited Rebroadcast Application in Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE)

The main features of the transmitter to be sited have been outlined. Various factors such as radio interference, meteorological, etc. which are to be taken into consideration for site selection have been discussed. The required ancillary facilities are indicated and explained.