No abstract

Effective response and preparedness plans are important for successfully coping with environmental emergencies. 'Quickness' and 'accuracy' are the most important requirements of environmental emergency response and preparedness planning. We propose the use of case-based reasoning (CBR) technology to develop response and preparedness plans using these principles. Taking into account the characteristics of a real environmental emergency, the development is presented using the example of a CBR -Oil Spill Response and Preparedness System. This paper introduces the methodology, which includes system architecture, inputs and outputs, case structure, case retrieval, case adaptation, case evaluation and retention, and management of the case base. The following methods are presented to meet the requirements of environmental emergency response and preparedness planning: the Frame method for defining case representation; the modified Heterogeneous Euclidean-Overlap Metric method for defining the similarity function; and the Attribute Hierarchical Model method for assigning relative weights to attributes. The effectiveness and uncertainty of the methodology are also discussed.