Vulnerability Assessment Studies Research Articles

A Systematic Review of Coastal Vulnerability Assessment Studies along Andhra Pradesh, India: A Critical Evaluation of Data Gathering, Risk Levels and Mitigation Strategies

The establishment and alteration of any coastal feature is largely dependent upon complex hydrological and geomorphologic processes. Therefore, understanding hazard factors and threat risk level is crucial for mitigating risk in coastal zones. This study examines coastal vulnerability factors and their influence along the Coastal Andhra Pradesh (CAP) region in India. CAP has been exposed to frequent hydrological and meteorological hazards due to variations in the geographical, geological, and bathymetric characteristics. Despite substantial vulnerabilities, the risk to the coastline of Andhra Pradesh has not been rigorously evaluated. The current research systematically reviews the drivers and effects of hazards and vulnerabilities in CAP. Findings indicate that urban cities have a considerably higher risk of cyclones and floods due to their locations on the Bay of Bengal tectonic plate, the topology of this coastal region, and higher population density. The study revealed that the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) data along CAP is mostly gathered using low-resolution satellite data and/or field observation surveys. The study further revealed that there are very few existing mitigation strategies developed or discussed within the obtained results. However, more accurate data gathering techniques for coastal vulnerability factors are available such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): Air-borne and LiDAR sensors, which provide very high resolution data and low-cost accessibility to physically inaccessible places, making them suitable for vulnerability data collection in coastal locations. These findings are useful for stakeholders seeking to reduce or ameliorate the impact of coastal disasters and their impacts on the CAP economy, environment, and population. The study further helps to reduce the existing shortcomings in the assessment techniques used previously.

The Research on National Heat Vulnerability Assessment of China

Background: At present, many countries and regions have conducted heat vulnerability assessment studies to effectively identify vulnerable areas and populations. In China, heat vulnerability assessments have been conducted in some areas, but there is a lack of coverage across many parts of the country. The impacts of heat vulnerability are still unknown for most areas in China. Objectives: We aim to establish a preliminary heat vulnerability index system in China. Based on the establishment of a nationwide county-scale heat vulnerability index, we assessed the spatial distribution of heat vulnerability in China. Methods: We used principal component analysis to reduce the dimension of heat vulnerability indicators. The heat vulnerability index of each county was calculated by a summation of the principal component scores of the corresponding districts and counties. In order to better intuitively understand the distribution of China's heat vulnerability index, we displayed the results of the index on a spatial map. Results: The average value of the heat vulnerability index is 13.84, with a median of 14, and a standard deviation of 1.77. The high vulnerability areas, defined with a heat vulnerability index value of16-22, include a total of 394 counties/districts. Low vulnerability areas, defined with a heat vulnerability index value of 5-13,include a total of 1061 counties/districts. The spatial pattern map of the heat vulnerability index indicates that there are many areas with low heat vulnerability in the southeastern coastal areas and central regions, and there are many areas with high heat vulnerability in the northeast and western regions. Conclusion: Geographic, urbanization, economic, and health factors are the primary influencing factors of China's heat vulnerability. Low-income groups, low-education groups, ethnic minorities, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the effects of heat in China.

A new scheme for multivariate, multisite weather generator with inter-variable, inter-site dependence and inter-annual variability based on empirical copula approach

Weather generators (WGs) are often used to develop an ensemble of plausible climate scenarios across multiple spatial and temporal scales for vulnerability assessment and impact studies. Most of the conventional WGs are single-site models, which neglect the spatial dependence in the simulated meteorological field, are improper for regional impact studies. In recent several decades, efforts have been devoted to develop multivariate, multisite weather generators (MMWGs), which are able to reproduce the inter-variable and inter-site dependencies as well as the temporal structures observed in the historical records. Though several improvements have been achieved, the existed MMWGs are either conceptually complex or computationally expensive, and have difficulty in preserving the entire desired attributes. This study proposes a new two-stage scheme for constructing a MMWG. At the first stage, the meteorological series are simulated from a single-site multivariate weather generator (SMWG), which preserves the marginal distributional attributes for each meteorological variable. For the second stage, the inter-variable and inter-site dependencies as well as the temporal structures are reproduced using the Empirical Copula (EC) approach. An application of the proposed MMWG is presented for the Upper Thames River Catchment, Canada, and the performance is evaluated and compared with another two-stage MMWG based on the Iman shuffle approach. Results show that the proposed MMWG not only preserves the marginal distributional attributes, but also restores the inter-variable and inter-site dependencies, the temporal persistence, and the inter-annual variability almost perfectly. The performance of the proposed MMWG outperforms the one based on the Iman shuffle approach in terms of reconstruction of temporal persistence and inter-annual variability, as well as the reproduction of multivariate dependencies. Being conceptually simple and computationally inexpensive, the proposed scheme based on the EC approach is well suited for developing ensemble-based climate scenarios for vulnerability assessment and impact studies.

Vulnerability to failure of cable-stayed bridges for beyond-design basis wind events

Abstract This paper develops a vulnerability assessment framework for cable-stayed bridges based on critical elements identified through a failure analysis. The framework refers to a simple and effective model developed to assess the vulnerability of a bridge failure due to beyond design-basis wind loads. The proposed framework differs from the probability-based approach in that it uses a cable-stayed bridge in operation, not a prototype bridge for fragility assessment, to identify critical elements vulnerable for a bridge failure. Furthermore, this study provides a detailed procedure to calculate the wind loads that account for varying wind speeds. The vulnerability index is defined as the demand-to-capacity ratio determined at threshold wind speeds. By assessing a cable-stayed bridge located in southeastern Georgia in the U.S., it is demonstrated how the proposed framework and analysis model can be successfully used to verify the results, identify critical elements associated with bridge failures for beyond design basis wind speeds, and assess the vulnerability. It is also concluded that a sensitivity analysis of significant variables such as aerodynamic pressure coefficients and dynamic load factor identified through this study is noteworthy, in order to accurately define analytical sensitivity and establish a practical limit on wind speeds for determining if a bridge closure is necessary thorough a vulnerability assessment study.

Calibration of groundwater vulnerability mapping using the generalized reduced gradient method

Groundwater vulnerability assessment studies are essential in water resources management. Overlay-and-index methods such as DRASTIC are widely used for mapping of groundwater vulnerability, however, these methods mainly suffer from a subjective selection of model parameters. The objective of this study is to introduce a calibration procedure that results in a more accurate assessment of groundwater vulnerability. The improvement of the assessment is formulated as a parameter optimization problem using an objective function that is based on the correlation between actual groundwater contamination and vulnerability index values. The non-linear optimization problem is solved with the generalized-reduced-gradient (GRG) method, which is numerical algorithm based optimization method. To demonstrate the applicability of the procedure, a vulnerability map for the Tahtali stream basin is calibrated using nitrate concentration data. The calibration procedure is easy to implement and aims the maximization of correlation between observed pollutant concentrations and groundwater vulnerability index values. The influence of each vulnerability parameter in the calculation of the vulnerability index is assessed by performing a single-parameter sensitivity analysis. Results of the sensitivity analysis show that all factors are effective on the final vulnerability index. Calibration of the vulnerability map improves the correlation between index values and measured nitrate concentrations by 19%. The regression coefficient increases from 0.280 to 0.485. It is evident that the spatial distribution and the proportions of vulnerability class areas are significantly altered with the calibration process. Although the applicability of the calibration method is demonstrated on the DRASTIC model, the applicability of the approach is not specific to a certain model and can also be easily applied to other overlay-and-index methods.

SPATIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES TO EARTHQUAKE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS (EEES)

The study examines a semi-quantitative indicator based method to assess the spatial susceptibility of archaeological sites to the secondary Earthquake Environmental Effects (EEEs) of ground liquefaction, landslides and tsunami. The method was applied at 16 archaeological sites allowing the identification of the EEEs each site is susceptible to and their prioritization at a national and regional level through the Spatial Susceptibility index (SSi). Results indicate that the majority of the sites are susceptible to at least one Earthquake Environmental Effect. This highlights their contribution to the vulnerability of archaeological sitesto earthquake hazard and the necessity for the integration of spatial susceptibility parameters in vulnerability assessment studies for cultural heritage protection.

Vulnerability of Airports on Climate Change: An Assessment Methodology

The French technical center for civil aviation (STAC) conducted a three step study in order to provide airport operators with a consistent assessment methodology for the evaluation of airports’ vulnerability to climate change. This paper aims at presenting the development of the vulnerability assessment method and highlighting the main steps to be conducted to perform a vulnerability assessment study to climate change.

Micro-scale urban surface temperatures are related to land-cover features and residential heat related health impacts in Phoenix, AZ USA

With rapidly expanding urban regions, the effects of land cover changes on urban surface temperatures and the consequences of these changes for human health are becoming progressively larger problems. We investigated residential parcel and neighborhood scale variations in urban land surface temperature, land cover, and residents’ perceptions of landscapes and heat illnesses in the subtropical desert city of Phoenix, AZ USA. We conducted an airborne imaging campaign that acquired high resolution urban land surface temperature data (7 m/pixel) during the day and night. We performed a geographic overlay of these data with high resolution land cover maps, parcel boundaries, neighborhood boundaries, and a household survey. Land cover composition, including percentages of vegetated, building, and road areas, and values for NDVI, and albedo, was correlated with residential parcel surface temperatures and the effects differed between day and night. Vegetation was more effective at cooling hotter neighborhoods. We found consistencies between heat risk factors in neighborhood environments and residents’ perceptions of these factors. Symptoms of heat-related illness were correlated with parcel scale surface temperature patterns during the daytime but no corresponding relationship was observed with nighttime surface temperatures. Residents’ experiences of heat vulnerability were related to the daytime land surface thermal environment, which is influenced by micro-scale variation in land cover composition. These results provide a first look at parcel-scale causes and consequences of urban surface temperature variation and provide a critically needed perspective on heat vulnerability assessment studies conducted at much coarser scales.

Well hydrograph analysis for the characterisation of flow dynamics and conduit network geometry in a karst aquifer, Bükk Mountains, Hungary

The present paper introduces new well hydrograph analytical tools for parameter estimation in karst aquifers. The analytical formulae provided in this study link aquifer properties with hydrograph recession coefficients, and provide quantitative characterisation of the spatial and temporal variations of the water table. Generally, spring hydrograph analytical techniques provide information on the characteristic hydraulic parameters and conduit spacing in a karstic catchment, while well hydrograph analysis provides information on local hydraulic and geometric properties of individual matrix blocks and in certain cases on the deep unkarstified aquifer zone. The combination of the spring and well hydrograph analytical methods represents a useful tool for understanding the structure and hydraulic behaviour of karst systems. A new well hydrograph analytical approach is presented, which makes the estimation of conduit spacing and catchment geometries possible. In most cases well hydrograph peaks can be decomposed into three exponential segments. Exponential segments in shallow systems do not correspond to different types of storage, but in most cases originate from the emptying of fissured matrix blocks. The proposed parameter estimation method is demonstrated through the application of field data. The test site is located in the Bükk Mountains, Hungary. Analytical methods were applied on two adjacent karstic catchments feeding the Szinva and Garadna springs. Hydrograph analysis of both springs and three well hydrographs were performed to investigate the hydraulic behaviour of the karst system and to estimate the spatial geometry of karst conduits. According to hydrograph analytical results, both spring and well hydrographs indicated similar matrix block geometries. Hydrograph analysis revealed the change of flow scale indicated by a significant drop of the value of recession coefficient. The investigation method introduced in this study provides important information for water resource assessment, contamination risk assessment, vulnerability assessment, flood prediction, geotechnical and speleological studies.

Coastal vulnerability assessment studies over India: a review

Coastal areas are one of the key systems for global sustainability. These are the transition areas between land and sea. Coastal regions gained importance because of multiple uses, like high productivity of the ecosystem, highly concentrated population, industrial friendly, waste disposal, tourism, transportation, strategic planning in military and many more. These coasts are always in a dynamic state trying to change, and nature always works for maintaining the equilibrium. India, with most diverse ecosystem, high productivity and thickly populated over coastal region, has gained its very own importance. Despite all of these, Indian coasts are under threat due to multiple stresses like global climate change and human intervention. These stresses are driving vulnerabilities like sea-level rise, coastal erosion, frequent extreme events, and saltwater encroachment. In this critical scenario, coastal management has become one of the very important issues in the last two decades. Thus, coastal vulnerability assessment methods have been developed to identify and manage the vulnerable areas over the coast. In the present review, we focussed on different vulnerabilities to coast of India and one of the assessment methods, coastal vulnerability index methodology, applied over India. Vulnerability assessment is the process where we identify the problem, quantify it, and assess the risk rate in formulating development strategies to reduce the risk and vulnerabilities. Proper planning and protection strategies for Indian coast must be taken swiftly by the coastal management and policy makers to safeguard coastal ecosystem and livelihoods. In recent years, there has been much focus on coastal vulnerability assessments using various kinds of data. Most of the reported studies over Indian coast are based on remote sensing and GIS methods.

VuWiki: An Ontology-Based Semantic Wiki for Vulnerability Assessments

Three decades of vulnerability research have generated a complex and growing body of knowledge. The concept of vulnerability, as well as its implementation in vulnerability assessments, is used in various disciplines and contexts. Correspondingly, a multitude of ideas and frameworks about how to conceptualize and measure vulnerability exists. To provide a structured representation of vulnerability, we have set up an ontology-based semantic wiki for reviewing and representing vulnerability assessments ( www.vuwiki.org ). Based on a survey of 55 vulnerability assessment studies, we first developed an ontology as an explicit reference system for describing vulnerability assessments. The ontology was then implemented in a semantic wiki which allows for the classification and annotation of vulnerability assessment. The resulting semantic wiki, VuWiki, does not aim at “synthesizing” a holistic and overarching model of vulnerability, but at (1) providing—both scientists and practitioners—with a uniform ontology as a reference system; (2) providing easy and structured access to the knowledge field of vulnerability assessments with the possibility for any user to retrieve assessments using specific research criteria; and (3) serving as a collaborative knowledge platform that allows for the active participation of those generating and using the knowledge represented in the vulnerability wiki.

Tsunami vulnerability assessment mapping for the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia using a geographical information system (GIS)

The catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004 raised a number of questions for scientist and politicians on how to deal with the tsunami risk and assessment in coastal regions. This paper discusses the challenges in tsunami vulnerability assessment and presents the result of tsunami disaster mapping and vulnerability assessment study for West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The spatial analysis was carried out using Geographical Information System (GIS) technology to demarcate spatially the tsunami affected village's boundary and suitable disaster management program can be quickly and easily developed. In combination with other thematic maps such as road maps, rail maps, school maps, and topographic map sheets it was possible to plan the accessibility and shelter to the affected people. The tsunami vulnerability map was used to identify the vulnerability of villages/village population to tsunami. In the tsunami vulnerability map, the intensity of the tsunami was classified as hazard zones based on the inundation level in meter (contour). The approach produced a tsunami vulnerability assessment map consists of considering scenarios of plausible extreme, tsunami-generating events, computing the tsunami inundation levels caused by different events and scenarios and estimating the possible range of casualties for computing inundation levels. The study provides an interactive means to identify the tsunami affected areas after the disaster and mapping the tsunami vulnerable village before for planning purpose were the essential exercises for managing future disasters.

Toward a Methodology to Investigate the Downstream Flood Hazards on the American River due to Changes in Probable Maximum Flood due to Effects of Artificial Reservoir Size and Land-Use/Land-Cover Patterns

Abstract Recent research in mesoscale hydrology suggests that the size of the reservoirs and the land-use/land-cover (LULC) patterns near them impact the extreme weather [e.g., probable maximum flood (PMF)]. A key question was addressed by W. Yigzaw et al.: How do reservoir size and/or LULC modify extreme flood patterns, specifically PMF via modification of probable maximum precipitation (PMP)? Using the American River watershed (ARW) as a representative example of an impounded watershed with Folsom Dam as the flood control structure, they applied the distributed Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model to simulate the PMF from the atmospheric feedbacks simulated for various LULC scenarios. The current study presents a methodology to extend the impacts of these modified extreme flood patterns on the downstream Sacramento County, California. The research question addressed is, what are the relative effects of downstream flood hazards to population on the American River system under various PMF scenarios for the Folsom Dam? To address this goal, a two-dimensional flood model, the Flood in Two Dimensions–Graphics Processing Unit (Flood2D-GPU), is calibrated using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and Landsat satellite observations and observed flood stage data. The calibration process emphasized challenges associated with using National Elevation Dataset (NED) digital elevation model (DEM) and topographic light detection and ranging (lidar)–derived DEMs to achieve realistic flood inundation. Following this calibration exercise, the flood model was used to simulate four land-use scenarios (control, predam, reservoir double, and nonirrigation). The flood hazards are quantified as downstream flood hazard zones by estimating flood depths and velocities and its impacts on risk to population using depth–velocity hazard relationships provided by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). From the preliminary application of methodology in this study, it is evident from comparing downstream flood hazard that similar trends in PMF comparisons reported by W. Yigzaw et al. were observed. Between the control and nonirrigation, the downstream flood hazard is pronounced by −3.90% for the judgment zone and −2.40% for high hazard zones. Comparing the control and predam scenarios, these differences are amplified, ranging between 0.17% and −1.34%. While there was no change detected in the peak PMF discharges between the control and reservoir-double scenarios, it still yielded an increase in high hazard areas for the latter. Based on this preliminary bottom-up vulnerability assessment study, it is evident that what was observed in PMF comparisons by W. Yigzaw et al. is confirmed in comparisons between control versus predam and control versus nonirrigation. While there was no change detected in the peak PMF discharges between the control and reservoir-double scenarios, it still yielded a noticeable change in the total areal extents: specifically, an increase in high hazard areas for the latter. Continued studies in bottom-up vulnerability assessment of flood hazards will aid in developing suitable mitigation and adaptation options for a much needed resilient urban infrastructure.

Non-structural earthquake vulnerability assessment of major hospital buildings in Nepal

The non-structural assessment of critical public facilities such as hospital buildings is very essential for earthquake disaster adaptation in earthquake prone regions. In Nepal, a devastating earthquake is inevitable in the long term and likely in the near future. So a non-structural earthquake vulnerability assessment study was carried out in the selected main hospitals of Nepal. This paper presents the findings of the assessment work. The results show an alarming situation and demand an immediate action in most of the hospital buildings so as to achieve a standard and acceptable level of safety. The study also recommends a gradual approach of increasing the safety level considering the socio-economic condition of the country and the fact that medium-level earthquakes are more frequent than the severe ones. Moreover, the non-structural component assessment study largely helped to convince the government officials and hospital authorities on the affordability and possibility of constructing earthquake-resistant non-structural components in the hospitals of developing countries such as Nepal, employing a slight improvement in the already employed methods of construction.

Simulation of the explosion of kerosene vapors inside a partitioned structure

The aim of this work is to propose a simple multi-physics model in order to predict the evolution of the thermodynamic variables during the combustion of kerosene vapors in each compartment of a closed vessel. A special attention is paid to the mechanical effects of combustion, e.g., the pressure evolution. The basic characteristics of the model have been developed as part of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach, in order to represent both the ignition stage and the flame propagation in the reactive mixture. The proposed development is validated in a single compartment vessel by investigations about the equivalence ratio and the reaction dynamics (final pressure, combustion duration, etc.). Moreover, the expected phenomenology is correctly reproduced for tanks composed of several compartments, such as, for instance, a faster combustion process in the presence of internal orifices. The impact of the ignition on the subsequent evolution of the explosion is also investigated, highlighting a strong influence of the ignition location. The model illustrates that the pressure evolution is the result of complex geometry effects: particularly, for a tank made of identical compartments, the total volume is not sufficient to describe the main trends concerning the mechanical effects of the explosion. The calculations are in agreement with classical results available in the literature for a special kind of kerosene (F.34) studied by the laboratory. Despite the proposed model relying on simple assumptions, it represents a useful tool for further vulnerability or risk assessment studies applied to aircraft kerosene tanks.

Conducting risk analysis in public transport networks – guidelines for users

Ensuring the security of public transport is particularly challenging for reasons such as the open and accessible nature of public transport networks and the limited resources of the operators. Conducting a security risk assessment study is therefore a useful starting point. First, a risk analysis is conducted to establish the occurrence and impact of threats on the network. This is then followed by a vulnerability assessment study, which helps to decide where and how to invest scarce resources to protect the system. To summarize, we can say that: Risk Assessment = Risk Analysis + Vulnerability Assessment. Due to length restrictions, the present article will focus on risk analysis. The issue of the vulnerability assessment can be found in the full study*. A security risk analysis is different to a safety risk analysis. For example, a safety risk analysis can make use of frequency of occurrence of safety events using data from experience. Due to the rarity of terrorist attacks on public transport, the element of frequency cannot be used for a security risk analysis. The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Security Commission† identified security risk assessment as a priority topic for research. Therefore, in the context of COUNTERACT, a European project funded by the European Commission, UITP and the project team developed ‘Generic Guidelines for Conducting Security Risk Assessment in Public Transport Networks’. The user-friendly guidelines, which were successfully tested by an urban public transport operator, outline a qualitative risk assessment methodology which can be adapted by the operator to suit specific needs, in a step-by-step approach, specifically designed for public transport. This article will outline how the methodology was developed, as well as lessons learned from the test which was carried out. To supplement these User Guidelines, further details of the risk assessment methodology are presented in the accompanying paper by Sanchez.

Towards Successful Adaptation to Sea-Level Rise along Europe's Coasts

Adaptation is defined as the planned or unplanned, reactive or anticipatory, successful or unsuccessful response of a system to a change in its environment. This paper examines the current status of adaptation to sea-level rise and climate change in the context of European coasts. Adaptation can greatly reduce the impact of sea-level rise (and other coastal changes), although it requires adjustment of coastal management policies to changing circumstances. Consequently, adaptation is a social, political, and economic process, rather than just a technical exercise, as it is often conceived. The Synthesis and Upscaling of sea-level Rise Vulnerability Assessment Studies project has shown that adaptation to sea-level rise is widely divergent among European countries. Crudely, four groups of countries were identified: 1. Those that do not worry about accelerated sea-level rise and should not as their coasts are not susceptible 2. Those that do not worry as they have more urgent problems 3. Those that do not worry but probably should 4. Those that do worry and have started to adapt At the European Union level, while coastal management is a focus, this effort is mainly targeted at today's problems. Hence, this paper suggests the need for a concerted effort to address adaptation in coastal zones across Europe. Sharing of experience among countries would facilitate this process.

Steps Towards the Implementation of a Tsunami Detection, Warning, Mitigation and Preparedness Program for Southwestern Coastal Areas of Mexico

The highly vulnerable Pacific southwest coast of Mexico has been repeatedly affected by local, regional and remote source tsunamis. Mexico presently has no national tsunami warning system in operation. The implementation of key elements of a National Program on Tsunami Detection, Monitoring, Warning and Mitigation is in progress. For local and regional events detection and monitoring, a prototype of a robust and low cost high frequency sea-level tsunami gauge, sampling every minute and equipped with 24 hours real time transmission to the Internet, was developed and is currently in operation. Statistics allow identification of low, medium and extreme hazard categories of arriving tsunamis. These categories are used as prototypes for computer simulations of coastal flooding. A finite-difference numerical model with linear wave theory for the deep ocean propagation, and shallow water nonlinear one for the near shore and interaction with the coast, and non-fixed boundaries for flooding and recession at the coast, is used. For prevention purposes, tsunami inundation maps for several coastal communities, are being produced in this way. The case of the heavily industrialized port of Lazaro Cardenas, located on the sand shoals of a river delta, is illustrated; including a detailed vulnerability assessment study. For public education on preparedness and awareness, printed material for children and adults has been developed and published. It is intended to extend future coverage of this program to the Mexican Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas.

AHP-DRASTIC: software for specific aquifer vulnerability assessment using DRASTIC model and GIS

A software package AHP-DRASTIC has been developed to derive ratings and weights of modified DRASTIC model parameters for use in specific aquifer vulnerability assessment studies. The software is integrated with ArcView Geographical Information System (GIS) software for modelling aquifer vulnerability, to predict areas which are more likely than others to become contaminated as a result of activities at or near the land surface. The ranges of a few of the DRASTIC model parameters have been modified to adapt to local hydrogeologic settings. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been used to compute the ratings and weights of the criteria and sub-criteria of all parameters used in the DRASTIC model. The output from AHP generates a MS Access database for these parameters, which is then interfaced with ArcView using Avenue Scripts. AHP-DRASTIC is aimed at providing user-friendly GUI interfaced with GIS for the estimation of weights and ranks of the thematic layers used for aquifer vulnerability assessment. Contingency table analysis indicates that all wells in low and high vulnerability category have concentrations less than 10 ppm and more than 10 ppm, respectively. The model is validated with groundwater quality data and the results have shown strong relationship between DRASTIC Specific Vulnerability Index and nitrate-as-nitrogen concentrations with a correlation co-efficient of 0.84 at 0.01 level.