An M-SALD_AHP and GIS-Based Approach to Watershed Analysis During the Development of Small and Large-Scale Hydraulic Structure Construction Projects

Multi-criteria analysis techniques provide a useful tool to support decision making. To date, different methods have been developed using different approaches. However, in the literature and in particular for the analysis of areas for the location of hydraulic structures it is well known that one of the most widely used methods is the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This paper presents a modified AHP that allows expanding the number of criteria and alternatives evaluated, as well as eliminating the subjective evaluation of the experts towards the alternatives and reducing the inconsistencies that are obtained during the construction of paired matrices. The modifications made focus on the automatic construction of paired comparison matrices and the proposal of a new normalization method for the evaluation and weighting of the alternatives through the use of real parameter data extracted from raster and/or vector layers in the GIS tool. The new M-SALD_AHP method was applied in the analysis of hydrographic sub-basins corresponding to the municipality of Manicaragua, in the province of Villa Clara, Cuba. For the analysis, a total of 25 sub-criteria distributed in 4 criteria and 29 alternatives (hydrographic sub-basins) were taken into account. The results show that the proposed method is effective and reliable for the analysis of watersheds during the feasibility analysis of construction projects and locations of hydraulic structures.