Multi-Criteria Assessment of Spatial Robust Water Resource Vulnerability Using the TOPSIS Method Coupled with Objective and Subjective Weights in the Han River Basin

Eun-Sung Chung, Patricia Jitta Abdulai, Hyesun Park, Yeonjoo Kim, So Ra Ahn and Seong Joon Kim
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Eun-Sung Chung: Department of Civil Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul 01811, Korea
Patricia Jitta Abdulai: Department of Civil Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul 01811, Korea
Hyesun Park: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
Yeonjoo Kim: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
So Ra Ahn: Department of Civil, Environmental and Plant Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea
Seong Joon Kim: Department of Civil, Environmental and Plant Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: This study developed a multi-criteria approach to spatially assess the robust water resource vulnerability in sub-basins and applied it to the Han River basin. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggested three factors of vulnerability; namely, exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity were used in this study with respect to water quantity and quality. In this study, 16 water quantity indicators and 13 water quality indicators were selected to identify the vulnerability using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. Environmental and socioeconomic data were obtained from the national statistics database, and hydrological data were simulated using the calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. Expert surveys and Shannon entropy method were used to determine subjective and objective weights for all indicators, individually. As a result, water quantity-vulnerable sub-basins were associated with high water use and water leakage ratios. Water quality-vulnerable sub-basins were associated with relatively high values of maximum consecutive dry days and heatwave days. The water quantity indices of both weighting methods showed relatively similar spatial distributions, while the distribution of water quality indices was distinct. These results suggest that considering different weighting methods is important for assessing the robust water resource vulnerability of sub-basins.

Keywords: Han River basin; Shannon entropy; TOPSIS; robust water resource vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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