Evaluation of Efficiency of Torrential Protective Structures With New BF-TOPSIS Methods

Decision-Aid Methods (DAMs) such as the CostBenefit Analysis (CBA) and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) help decision-makers to rank alternatives or to choose the best one among several potential ones

Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion. Collected Works, Volume 5

This fifth volume on Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion collects theoretical and applied contributions of researchers working in different fields of applications and in mathematics, and is available in open-access. The collected contributions of this volume have either been published or presented after disseminating the fourth volume in 2015 in international conferences, seminars, workshops and journals, or they are new. The contributions of each part of this volume are chronologically ordered. First Part of this book presents some theoretical advances on DSmT, dealing mainly with modified Proportional Conflict Redistribution Rules (PCR) of combination with degree of intersection, coarsening techniques, interval calculus for PCR thanks to set inversion via interval analysis (SIVIA), rough set classifiers, canonical decomposition of dichotomous belief functions, fast PCR fusion, fast inter-criteria analysis with PCR, and improved PCR5 and PCR6 rules preserving the (quasi-)neutrality of (quasi-)vacuous belief assignment in the fusion of sources of evidence with their Matlab codes. Because more applications of DSmT have emerged in the past years since the apparition of the fourth book of DSmT in 2015, the second part of this volume is about selected applications of DSmT mainly in building change detection, object recognition, quality of data association in tracking, perception in robotics, risk assessment for torrent protection and multi-criteria decision-making, multi-modal image fusion, coarsening techniques, recommender system, levee characterization and assessment, human heading perception, trust assessment, robotics, biometrics, failure detection, GPS systems, inter-criteria analysis, group decision, human activity recognition, storm prediction, data association for autonomous vehicles, identification of maritime vessels, fusion of support vector machines (SVM), Silx-Furtif RUST code library for information fusion including PCR rules, and network for ship classification. Finally, the third part presents interesting contributions related to belief functions in general published or presented along the years since 2015. These contributions are related with decision-making under uncertainty, belief approximations, probability transformations, new distances between belief functions, non-classical multi-criteria decision-making problems with belief functions, generalization of Bayes theorem, image processing, data association, entropy and cross-entropy measures, fuzzy evidence numbers, negator of belief mass, human activity recognition, information fusion for breast cancer therapy, imbalanced data classification, and hybrid techniques mixing deep learning with belief functions as well

Multi-criteria decision making in a function of soil and water resources conservation in hilly- mountainous areas of central Serbia

Примена метода вишекритеријумског одлучивања у области заштите од ерозије и бујица, са циљем конзервације земљишних и водних ресурса брдско-планинских подручја централне Србије представља предмет ове дисертације. Географско подручје истраживања представљају слив Топчидерске реке, слив реке Топлице и слив реке Расине, који су класификовани у систем подсливова. Вредности критеријума за процену ерозије земљишта: начина коришћења земљишта, еродибилности земљишта, кишног фактора и топографског фактора (RUSLE метода), као и вредности 10 морфометријских параметара коришћених за процену опасности од бујичних поплава (површина подслива, релативни пад тока, средњи пад подслива, коефицијент ерозионе енергије рељефа, геоморфолошко-ерозиони коефицијент итд.) су утврђени анализом одговарајућих подлога уз примену GIS-а. У раду су примењене методе вишекритеријумске анализе: AHP, WSM, ELECTRE II и PROMETHEE II. Помоћу ових метода су одређене тежине критеријума и рангирани подсливови према угрожености ерозијом и према угрожености од бујичних поплава. Издвојени су подсливови првог ранга, где је потребно применити конзервационе мере и радове. Поменуте методе вишекритеријумске анализе су примењене и за: избор бујичних сливова где ће се градити преграде (као технички радови у кориту бујичних водотокова), избор најприхватљивије комбинације преграда, као и профила за њихову изградњу. На терену су регистрована оштећења преграда и предложена је формула за приоритизацију њиховог санирања. Методе вишекритеријумске оптимизације (метода ограничења и метода тежинских коефицијената) су примењене за избор оптималне структуре начина коришћења земљишта, као и оптимизацију подизања тераса као конзервационе мере. Предложен је модел интегралног уређења слива, где би примена метода вишекритеријумске анализе омогућила избор најприхватљивије комбинације мера и радова за редукцију/превенцију ерозије и бујица.Application of multi-criteria decision-making in the field of soil erosion protection and torrents control, with the aim of conservation of soil and water resources in hilly-mountainous areas of central Serbia, represents the subject of the thesis. Тhe geographical area of research includes: Topciderska River, Toplica River and Rasina River Watershed, which are classified in the sub-watershed system. Тhe values of criteria for estimating soil erosion are: land use, soil erodibility, rainfall erosivity factor and topographical factor (RUSLE method), as well as the value of 10 morphometric parameters used to estimate the risk of torrential floods (sub-watershed area, relative slope of the river bed, the mean sub-watershed slope, the coefficient of erosion energy of relief, geomorphological-erosion coefficient) are established by using relevant maps and GIS technique. In the paper, there have been applied various methods of multi-criteria analysis, such as: AHP, WSM, ELECTRE II PROMETHEE II. Using these methods, criteria weights are determined, and sub-watershed ranking is performed according to the vulnerability to erosion and torrential flooding. The first order sub-watershed, represents the area where implementation of conservation measures should be urgently performed. The above-mentioned multi-criteria analysis methods have been applied for: selection of watersheds for check dam construction (such a technical work in the bed of torrential streams), then, a selection of the most appropriate combination of check dams, as well as profiles for their construction. In the field are registered damage of check dam, and based on this, the formula for prioritizing the rehabilitation of check dams is proposed. Multi-criteria optimization methods (Constrained method and Method of weight coefficients) have been used for the selection of the optimal structure of land use in the sub-watershed, as well as the optimization of terrace construction as a conservation measure. A model of integrated watershed management has been proposed, where the application of the multi-criteria analysis method, would provide a selection of the most appropriate combination of measures and works for the reduction / prevention of erosion and torrents

Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability-Volume 2

Our world is facing many challenges, such as poverty, hunger, resource shortage, environmental degradation, climate change, and increased inequalities and conflicts. To address such challenges, the United Nations proposed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), consisting of 17 interlinked global goals, as the strategic blueprint of world sustainable development. Nevertheless, the implementation of the SDG framework has been very challenging and the COVID-19 pandemic has further impeded the SDG implementation progress. Accelerated efforts are needed to enable all stakeholders, ranging from national and local governments, civil society, private sector, academia and youth, to contribute to addressing this dilemma. This volume of the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability book series aims to offer inspiration and creativity on approaches to sustainable development. Among other things, it covers topics of COVID-19 and sustainability, environmental pollution, food production, clean energy, low-carbon transport promotion, and strategic governance for sustainable initiatives. This book can reveal facts about the challenges we are facing on the one hand and provide a better understanding of drivers, barriers, and motivations to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all on the other. Research presented in this volume can provide different stakeholders, including planners and policy makers, with better solutions for the implementation of SDGs. Prof. Bao-Jie He acknowledges the Project NO. 2021CDJQY-004 supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. We appreciate the assistance from Mr. Lifeng Xiong, Mr. Wei Wang, Ms. Xueke Chen and Ms. Anxian Chen at School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, China