A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier Vulnerability

Investigating the causes of the spatial heterogeneity of glacial changes offers vital information about glacial behavior and provides forecasting ability to define where glacier retreat may occur in the future. This study was designed to determine the spatial distribution of Ağrı Mountain glacier vu...

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Main Author: Mustafa Yalcin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
Series:ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/9/3/180
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author Mustafa Yalcin
author_facet Mustafa Yalcin
author_sort Mustafa Yalcin
collection DOAJ
description Investigating the causes of the spatial heterogeneity of glacial changes offers vital information about glacial behavior and provides forecasting ability to define where glacier retreat may occur in the future. This study was designed to determine the spatial distribution of Ağrı Mountain glacier vulnerability. The main goal of the current study was to assess the forecasting capabilities of Geographical Information System (GIS)-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for determining the location of the mountain glacier retreat. To estimate the glacier retreat, the following criteria were selected: elevation, aspect, slope, direction, and glacier surface temperature anomaly (GSTA). The entropy method was used for weighting the criteria for the evaluation of the vulnerable areas of the glacier. The results of this method clearly indicate a strong relationship between GSTA, direction, and elevation criteria and glacier retreat. The glacier vulnerability map was created by synthesizing criteria layers with their weights. The vulnerability map provided a consistency of 77.8% in the short term and 92.1% in the long term. In the study, the priority melting zones were determined and glacial retreat locations were forecasted in 10-year periods.
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spelling doaj.art-694eb22d3d9a417d99fff58c0350ca822022-12-21T21:11:38ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642020-03-019318010.3390/ijgi9030180ijgi9030180A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier VulnerabilityMustafa Yalcin0Department of Geomatics Engineering, Afyon Kocatepe University, 03200 Afyonkarahisar Merkez/Afyonkarahisar, TurkeyInvestigating the causes of the spatial heterogeneity of glacial changes offers vital information about glacial behavior and provides forecasting ability to define where glacier retreat may occur in the future. This study was designed to determine the spatial distribution of Ağrı Mountain glacier vulnerability. The main goal of the current study was to assess the forecasting capabilities of Geographical Information System (GIS)-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for determining the location of the mountain glacier retreat. To estimate the glacier retreat, the following criteria were selected: elevation, aspect, slope, direction, and glacier surface temperature anomaly (GSTA). The entropy method was used for weighting the criteria for the evaluation of the vulnerable areas of the glacier. The results of this method clearly indicate a strong relationship between GSTA, direction, and elevation criteria and glacier retreat. The glacier vulnerability map was created by synthesizing criteria layers with their weights. The vulnerability map provided a consistency of 77.8% in the short term and 92.1% in the long term. In the study, the priority melting zones were determined and glacial retreat locations were forecasted in 10-year periods.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/9/3/180glacier retreatgismcdavulnerability analysis
spellingShingle Mustafa Yalcin
A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier Vulnerability
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
glacier retreat
gis
mcda
vulnerability analysis
title A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier Vulnerability
title_full A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier Vulnerability
title_fullStr A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier Vulnerability
title_full_unstemmed A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier Vulnerability
title_short A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Model for Determining Glacier Vulnerability
title_sort gis based multi criteria decision analysis model for determining glacier vulnerability
topic glacier retreat
gis
mcda
vulnerability analysis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/9/3/180
work_keys_str_mv AT mustafayalcin agisbasedmulticriteriadecisionanalysismodelfordeterminingglaciervulnerability
AT mustafayalcin gisbasedmulticriteriadecisionanalysismodelfordeterminingglaciervulnerability