Using GeoTools to Implement the Multi -Criteria Evaluation Analysis : Weighted Linear Combination Model
(2014) In LUMA-GIS Thesis GISM01 20132Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
- Abstract
- Multi-Criteria Evaluation Analysis (MCEA) is a decision making method employed to solve optimization problems that require the evaluation of a set of criteria to build an optimal decision. Where MCEA is integrated with GIS, optimization problems with spatial aspects, such as finding the best location of a facility across an area, could be solved.
MCEA is implemented through different criteria decision rules among of which is the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) which has five different phases: 1) criteria definition, 2) criteria normalization, 3) weights definition, 4) criteria weighting, and 5) weighted criteria sum-overlaying.
Free and Open Source GIS Software (FOSS GIS) is getting more popular. Indicators on this popularity... (More) - Multi-Criteria Evaluation Analysis (MCEA) is a decision making method employed to solve optimization problems that require the evaluation of a set of criteria to build an optimal decision. Where MCEA is integrated with GIS, optimization problems with spatial aspects, such as finding the best location of a facility across an area, could be solved.
MCEA is implemented through different criteria decision rules among of which is the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) which has five different phases: 1) criteria definition, 2) criteria normalization, 3) weights definition, 4) criteria weighting, and 5) weighted criteria sum-overlaying.
Free and Open Source GIS Software (FOSS GIS) is getting more popular. Indicators on this popularity include: 1) the number of governmentally funded projects, 2) the number of downloads, 3) and the increasing number of use cases of open source GIS software. Some governments have even decided to replace their proprietary software with FOSS software.
Implementation of MCEA models in GIS software varied among loose-coupling, tight-coupling, and full-integration. In loose-coupling, GIS and MCEA are coupled through a file exchange mechanism. In tight-coupling, both systems share a common interface. In full-integration, custom programming scripts could be written to implement different MCEA tasks and models.
Previous studies showed that most GIS software have limited capabilities to perform MCEA except for IDRISI, Common GIS, ILWIS, and TNT-GIS. Among of them, only ILWIS is an open source software distributed under GPL license.
In this thesis, a desktop computer application, MC-Analyst, has been developed using GeoTools, a Java open source GIS software library, Java SE 1.7, and NetBeans IDE 7.3 to implement MCEA-WLC model.
The milestone works of the thesis included: 1) The feasibility of using FOSS in general and FOSS GIS in specific was researched, 2) A survey of the literature that researched previous efforts and implementations for integrating MCEA in GIS software was carried out, 3) Experiencing software development using a FOSS GIS library, GeoTools, in order to address strength and weakness points for development using GeoTools and FOSS GIS, and 4) Some recommendations concerning future development approaches to produce better integrated MCEA and FOSS GIS systems were addressed for future works.
To test MC-Analyst, a previous case study that located best sites to build solar farms in Colorado was employed. The output of the case study application was examined by altering input criteria weights for the main layers of solar DNI, distance to transmission lines, and distance to primary roads in the GIS-MCEA/WLC model.
Different outputs found as expected that when a higher weight had been given to one criterion, the final suitability result showed noticeable higher suitability in areas where that factor was considered optimal.
Raster and vector data processing capabilities of GeoTools were explored to perform basic GIS functions and it showed strong support for such functions. It was also found that in order for MC-Analyst to work as a standalone fully integrated Multi-Criteria Spatial Decision Support System (MC-SDSS), it would require other tasks that are found in common desktop GIS applications such as re-projection, clipping, and resampling. Therefore, re-using the source code of an open source desktop GIS application such as uDig or gvSig and integrate the developed MCEA-WLC model with it to produce fully integrated MC-SDSS could be of great interest for future development for FOSS GIS community. This would create an effective product that might compete with effective proprietary GIS software that implements MCEA models.
The study showed also that before choosing a software library to start with, the development team should be acquainted with other possible open source and free software applications and libraries in order for the development process to be smooth and to output a productive application. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Optimization problems exist in many disciplines. Regardless of the field in which the optimal solution is sought, all optimization problems share a common nature; seeking the best possible solution that must meet a set of criteria which are defined by a group of experts or professional shareholders in the field of the optimization problem.
Therefore, by combining an optimal solution seeking methodology (Evaluation Analysis) and the multiple criteria of the problem (Multi-Criteria), a new term emerged, Multi-Criteria Evaluation Analysis (MCEA).
MCEA is used with Geographic Information Systems (GIS is an information system that stores, processes, analyzes, and presents geographic information) to solve optimization problems that have a... (More) - Optimization problems exist in many disciplines. Regardless of the field in which the optimal solution is sought, all optimization problems share a common nature; seeking the best possible solution that must meet a set of criteria which are defined by a group of experts or professional shareholders in the field of the optimization problem.
Therefore, by combining an optimal solution seeking methodology (Evaluation Analysis) and the multiple criteria of the problem (Multi-Criteria), a new term emerged, Multi-Criteria Evaluation Analysis (MCEA).
MCEA is used with Geographic Information Systems (GIS is an information system that stores, processes, analyzes, and presents geographic information) to solve optimization problems that have a spatial nature such as finding optimal locations for some kind of facility or activity.
Some implementation of MCEA models have existed in some GIS packages. IDRISI, Common GIS, ILWIS, and TNT-GIS are major GIS software that provided some kind of implementation of MCEA models. Among the four GIS software, only ILWIS is a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
FOSS GIS is getting more popular. Indicators on this popularity were listed in the thesis. As FOSS GIS is getting more popular, a great potential of MCEA implementation is found in FOSS GIS.
In this thesis, a desktop computer application, MC-Analyst, has been developed using GeoTools, an open source GIS development kit, to implement a MCEA model. MC-Analyst benefited from GeoTools's strong support for basic GIS functions that made MCEA model implementation easier.
To test MC-Analyst, a previous case study that investigated a spatial optimization problem to evaluate Colorado landscape to locate best sites for solar energy farms in Colorado was employed. The different outputs that resulted from different inputs to MC-Analyst were analyzed and found as expected.
The study demonstrated FOSS integration and concluded that developing a fully-integrated and competent spatial decision support system could be of great interest for future development for FOSS GIS community. The study also concluded the necessity for a developer to be acquainted with other possible and different FOSS GIS software components in order for the development process to be smooth and to output productive applications. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4609898
- author
- Jamal-Uddeen, Salem LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Using open source software for spatial optimization problems
- course
- GISM01 20132
- year
- 2014
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Multi-Criteria, Java, GeoTools, FOSS GIS, open source, Physical Geography and Ecosystem analysis, GIS, MCEA, Weighted Linear Combination, WLC.
- publication/series
- LUMA-GIS Thesis
- report number
- 33
- language
- English
- id
- 4609898
- date added to LUP
- 2014-08-27 10:22:56
- date last changed
- 2014-09-05 09:03:11
@misc{4609898,
abstract = {{Multi-Criteria Evaluation Analysis (MCEA) is a decision making method employed to solve optimization problems that require the evaluation of a set of criteria to build an optimal decision. Where MCEA is integrated with GIS, optimization problems with spatial aspects, such as finding the best location of a facility across an area, could be solved.
MCEA is implemented through different criteria decision rules among of which is the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) which has five different phases: 1) criteria definition, 2) criteria normalization, 3) weights definition, 4) criteria weighting, and 5) weighted criteria sum-overlaying.
Free and Open Source GIS Software (FOSS GIS) is getting more popular. Indicators on this popularity include: 1) the number of governmentally funded projects, 2) the number of downloads, 3) and the increasing number of use cases of open source GIS software. Some governments have even decided to replace their proprietary software with FOSS software.
Implementation of MCEA models in GIS software varied among loose-coupling, tight-coupling, and full-integration. In loose-coupling, GIS and MCEA are coupled through a file exchange mechanism. In tight-coupling, both systems share a common interface. In full-integration, custom programming scripts could be written to implement different MCEA tasks and models.
Previous studies showed that most GIS software have limited capabilities to perform MCEA except for IDRISI, Common GIS, ILWIS, and TNT-GIS. Among of them, only ILWIS is an open source software distributed under GPL license.
In this thesis, a desktop computer application, MC-Analyst, has been developed using GeoTools, a Java open source GIS software library, Java SE 1.7, and NetBeans IDE 7.3 to implement MCEA-WLC model.
The milestone works of the thesis included: 1) The feasibility of using FOSS in general and FOSS GIS in specific was researched, 2) A survey of the literature that researched previous efforts and implementations for integrating MCEA in GIS software was carried out, 3) Experiencing software development using a FOSS GIS library, GeoTools, in order to address strength and weakness points for development using GeoTools and FOSS GIS, and 4) Some recommendations concerning future development approaches to produce better integrated MCEA and FOSS GIS systems were addressed for future works.
To test MC-Analyst, a previous case study that located best sites to build solar farms in Colorado was employed. The output of the case study application was examined by altering input criteria weights for the main layers of solar DNI, distance to transmission lines, and distance to primary roads in the GIS-MCEA/WLC model.
Different outputs found as expected that when a higher weight had been given to one criterion, the final suitability result showed noticeable higher suitability in areas where that factor was considered optimal.
Raster and vector data processing capabilities of GeoTools were explored to perform basic GIS functions and it showed strong support for such functions. It was also found that in order for MC-Analyst to work as a standalone fully integrated Multi-Criteria Spatial Decision Support System (MC-SDSS), it would require other tasks that are found in common desktop GIS applications such as re-projection, clipping, and resampling. Therefore, re-using the source code of an open source desktop GIS application such as uDig or gvSig and integrate the developed MCEA-WLC model with it to produce fully integrated MC-SDSS could be of great interest for future development for FOSS GIS community. This would create an effective product that might compete with effective proprietary GIS software that implements MCEA models.
The study showed also that before choosing a software library to start with, the development team should be acquainted with other possible open source and free software applications and libraries in order for the development process to be smooth and to output a productive application.}},
author = {{Jamal-Uddeen, Salem}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{LUMA-GIS Thesis}},
title = {{Using GeoTools to Implement the Multi -Criteria Evaluation Analysis : Weighted Linear Combination Model}},
year = {{2014}},
}