2 research outputs found
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Multicriterion modeling of wastewater management : a comparison of techniques
Multicriterion modeling of wastewater management problem is presented in order to select the most preferred wastewater scheme. The Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant which serves the binational cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora is used as case study in the modeling process. The process includes identifying of objectives, specifying of treatment alternatives and defining criteria to relate the objective satisfactum level to the alternative schemes. Six different multicriterion decision making techniques are applied to analyze and obtain preference ordering among the alternative treatment schemes. Analyses on the individual techniques and comparison among them are performed to arrive at the following conclusions: (1) all the techniques except one can be confidently used to obtain complete ordering of alternatives, (2) there is inter-model consistency in the ordering process, (3) in performing this function, the techniques are fairly robust with respect to parameter changes, and (4) only two treatment alternatives of fifteen considered are consistently ranked higher than the rest.hydrology collectio
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Choice of multicriterion decision making techniques for watershed management
The problem of selecting a multicriterion decision making (MCDM) technique for watershed resources management is investigated. Of explicit concern in this research is the matching of a watersned resources management problem with an appropriate MCDM technique. More than seventy techniques are recognized while reviewing the area of MCDM. A new classification scheme is developed to categorize these techniques into four groups on the bases of each algorithm's structural formulation and the possible results obtained by using the algorithm. Other standard classification schemes are also discussed to better understand the differences and similarities among the techniques and thereby demonstrate the importance of matching a particular multicriterion decision problem with an appropriate MCDM technique. The desire for selecting the most appropriate MCDM technique for watershed resources management lead to the development of 49 technique choice criteria and an algorithm for selecting a technique. The algorithm divides the technique choice criteria into four groups: (1) DM/analyst-related criteria, (2) technique-related criteria, (3) problem-related criteria and (4) solution-related criteria. To analyze the applicability of MCDM techniques to a particular problem, the levels of performance of the techniques in solving the problem are, at first, evaluated with respect to the choice criteria in each criterion group resulting in four sets of preference rankings. These four sets are then linearly combined using a set of trade-off parameters to determine the overall preference ranking of the techniques. The MUM technique selection process is itself modeled as a multiobjective problem. In this research, for example, a set of 15 techniques, the author is familiar with, are analyzed for their appropriateness to solve a watershed resources management problem. The performance levels of the 15 MCDM techniques in solving such a problem are evaluated with respect to a selected set of technique choice criteria in each criterion group leading to a set of four evaluation matrices of choice criteria versus alternative techniques. This technique choice problem is then analyzed using a two-stage evaluation procedure known as composite programming. The final product of the process resulted in a preference ranking of the alternative MCDM techniques.hydrology collectio