| Title: | Multi-Criteria assessment of spatial robust water resource vulnerability using the TOPSIS method coupled with objective and subjective weights in the Han River Basin |
| Authors: | Chung, E.-S., P.J. Abdulai, H. Park, Y. Kim, S.R. Ahn and S.J. Kim |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Journal: | Sustainability |
| Volume (Issue): | 9(1) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 29 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/su9010029 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic and pollutant |
| Primary Application Category: | hydrologic and/or pollutant indices |
| Secondary Application Category: | critical source area assessment |
| Watershed Description: | 34,428 km^2 Han River, which drains a portion of southern North Korea and a part of northern South Korea. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| 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. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Han River basin; Shannon entropy; TOPSIS; robust water resource vulnerability |