RS-based fuzzy multiattribute assessment of eco-environmental vulnerability in the source area of the Lishui River of northwest Hunan Province, China

Guifang Yang () and Zhenghong Chen ()

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2015, vol. 78, issue 2, 1145-1161

Abstract: Intrinsic uncertainties within geo-hazards affecting the source area of the Lishui River region exhibit chief challenges for environmental management and regional development. This study employs a fuzzy multiattribute approach to rank the eco-environmental vulnerability to geo-hazards for 38 given geographic units in the study area. The closeness coefficients for alternatives are applied to sort the eco-environmental vulnerability based on the distances of alternatives from the fuzzy positive-ideal and fuzzy negative-ideal solutions. The multiple attributes used in the ranking are geological characteristics, geological hazards, and human impacts. In general, results of the multiattribute method are consistent with those of a synthetic index method. Our results suggest that geological configurations/characteristics and the associated range and density of geo-hazards are the critical determinants of eco-environmental vulnerability. Human activities, however, slightly increase the overall vulnerability of geographic units. Results of the study aid preliminary resource exploitation and eco-environmental protection, yielding support for the long-term sustainable development of the region. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Eco-environmental vulnerability; Fuzzy multiattribute assessment (FMA); Geo-hazards; Source area of the Lishui River (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-1762-2

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