Multi-dimensional evaluation and ranking of coastal areas using GIS and multiple criteria choice methods

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems are increasingly threatened by short-sighted management policies that focus on human activities rather than the systems that sustain them. The early assessment of the impacts of human activities on the quality of the environment in coastal areas is important for decision-making, particularly in cases of environmentrdevelopment conflicts, such as environmental degradation and saturation in tourist areas. In the present study, a methodology was developed for the multi-dimensional evaluation and ranking of coastal areas using a set of criteria and based on the combination of multiple criteria choice methods and Geographical Information Ž . Systems GIS . The northeastern part of the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, Greece was the case study area. A distinction in sub-areas was performed and they were ranked according to socio-economic and environmental parameters. The robustness of the proposed methodology was assessed using different configurations of the initial criteria and reapplication of the process. The advantages and disadvantages, as well as the usefulness of this methodology for comparing the status of coastal areas and evaluating their potential for further development based on various criteria, is further discussed. ᮊ

Evaluation of eutrophication in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon, Portugal

“…An additional management tool for the interpretation of the nutrient status of coastal ecosystems is the formation GIS maps (Kitsou et al, 2002) that, in the case of the Ria Formosa, have been produced by combining the nutrient ratios calculated from the relational data base with GIS (Figs. 4 and 5).…”

A GIS methodology to support sea water quality assessment in coastal areas

“…Table 4. Eutrophication scales for chl-a, N-NO3 and N-NH4 (Simboura et al, 2005;Kitsiou et al, 2002) and the developed scales for the classification of the values of the rasters RPC1, RPC2, and Rf. …”

“…GIS has been widely used for the development of accurate spatial databases and maps as well as the processing and analysis of environmental data sets, while their rapid development during the last decades, has established them as the most relevant tool for supporting decision-making in coastal areas (Kitsiou et al, 2002).…”

Quantifying cumulative impacts of human pressures on the marine environment: a geospatial modelling framework

“…a spatially explicit MCA, is a major contribution to the development of tools for integrated management (Jiang & Eastman 2000, Malczewski 2006). In the marine environment, GIS-MCA has been employed to aid zoning within marine protected areas (Villa et al 2002), across national borders (Portman 2007) and in coastal areas (Kitsiou et al 2002). It has also been applied to identify candidate sites for protection based on multiple objectives (Wood & Dragicevic 2007).…”