Spatial analysis for optimization of student assignments in cartography Abstract The aim of the diploma thesis is to perform a multi-criteria analysis of large spatial data, which will result in the identification of a predetermined number of the variants of the territory, which are optimal for creating the student assignments. The main part of the thesis is to design and to calculate the spatial evaluation criteria. In the theoretical part, a theory of multi-criteria analysis and examples of its use in general in geoinformatics and assessment of landscape potential are presented. The practical part is devoted to the design of own methodology for assessment of the territory from the point of view of suitability for processing of student tasks, including its application over the territory of the Czechia in order to obtain information about the territory. Multi-criteria analysis was divided into two steps: pre-selection of the territory based on Boolean evaluation and subsequent sorting of the variants from the most suitable to the least appropriate using the TOPSIS method. The scales of the individual criteria were determined by the scoring method. The main result of the thesis is a new set of the variants of the territory, which are comparable with their processing demands. Keywords Spatial analysis,...

abstract: Comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the relative performance of multiple products, services, or technologies with the purpose of selecting the least impactful alternative. Nevertheless, characterized results are seldom conclusive. When one alternative performs best in some aspects, it may also performs worse in others. These tradeoffs among different impact categories make it difficult to identify environmentally preferable alternatives. To help reconcile this dilemma, LCA analysts have the option to apply normalization and weighting to generate comparisons based upon a single score. However, these approaches can be misleading because they suffer from problems of reference dataset incompletion, linear and fully compensatory aggregation, masking of salient tradeoffs, weight insensitivity and difficulties incorporating uncertainty in performance assessment and weights. Consequently, most LCA studies truncate impacts assessment at characterization, which leaves decision-makers to confront highly uncertain multi-criteria problems without the aid of analytic guideposts. This study introduces Stochastic Multi attribute Analysis (SMAA), a novel approach to normalization and weighting of characterized life-cycle inventory data for use in comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The proposed method avoids the bias introduced by external normalization references, and is capable of exploring high uncertainty in both the input parameters and weights. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil and Environmental Engineering 2015

Submitted by Lucienne Costa (lucienneferreira@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-03-23T17:19:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO DA CUNHA CORREIA LIMA - TESE (PPGRN) 2017.pdf: 7969849 bytes, checksum: fd8ce7fe6de0c51c5a626249abf8395f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-23T17:19:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO DA CUNHA CORREIA LIMA - TESE (PPGRN) 2017.pdf: 7969849 bytes, checksum: fd8ce7fe6de0c51c5a626249abf8395f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-26 / A desertificação é um fenômeno de escala global caracterizado pela degradação das terras nas zonas áridas, semiáridas e subúmidas secas para o qual concorrem fatores de ordem ambiental, social, econômica e institucional. Definir um conjunto de ações para seu enfrentamento requer o conhecimento das complexas relações estabelecidas entre a sociedade e o meio ambiente de modo a identificar e monitorar as causas e consequências do processo. A modelagem dessa realidade permanece um desafio para pesquisadores em todo o mundo, especialmente no Brasil, em virtude da grande quantidade de aspectos a serem considerados para os quais nem sempre há informações confiáveis e disponíveis. Procurando reduzir essa lacuna, o presente estudo estruturou um sistema de avaliação e comparação espacial da desertificação para os 32 municípios das microrregiões geográficas do Seridó paraibano e potiguar a partir de um conjunto de 27 indicadores recomendados na literatura relacionada, organizados segundo o modelo conceitual DPSIR - força motriz, pressão, estado, impacto e resposta. Os indicadores, discretos ou continuamente distribuídos, foram calculados, normalizados, ajustados à relação direta ou inversa com a desertificação, ponderados por especialistas de diferentes áreas do conhecimento e organizados em planos de informação do tipo raster. Técnicas de análise de decisão multicritério incorporadas a um sistema de informações geográficas foram utilizadas para desenvolver índices multicriteriais de desertificação, para cada categoria DPSIR, como instrumentos de avaliação das causas estruturais, causas diretas, susceptibilidade, consequências e respostas da sociedade para o problema. Os resultados apontaram que causas estruturais do processo, entre elas a concentração de terra, desigualdade social e cultura do consumo, mantêm 49,7% da área estudada em níveis de severidade moderado, forte ou muito forte de desertificação. Já as causas diretas, representadas pelo desmatamento e manejo inadequado da terra, afetam 19,7% da área com a mesma gravidade. Quanto à susceptibilidade ambiental, econômica e social, 83% da área está sujeita a iniciar ou agravar processos de desertificação em níveis de severidade moderado, forte e muito forte. Os impactos do processo, observados pela migração do campo para a cidade e pelo declínio da participação da agropecuária no PIB municipal, ocorrem com igual gravidade em 73,5% da área. Por fim, apenas 19,9% da área está relativamente preparada para enfrentar o problema através da organização do poder público e da sociedade civil em virtude dos níveis baixo e muito baixo de desertificação registrados. Numa avaliação global, considerando simultaneamente os 27 descritores do problema, observou-se que 59,7% da região está submetida a níveis moderado, forte ou muito forte de desertificação. Diante dos resultados alcançados, o estudo em questão sugere a promoção de ações governamentais e da sociedade civil para ampliar o acesso da população rural, nas áreas mais afetadas, à terra, à programas de geração ou transferência de renda, à educação básica universalizada, à assistência técnica agroecológica, à programas de recomposição da vegetação nativa, à serviços de proteção social dos contingentes que migram para as cidades, entre outras iniciativas, visando o enfrentamento do processo de desertificação e mitigação de suas consequências. / Desertification is a global phenomenon characterized by the degradation of land in the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas for which environmental, social, economic and institutional factors compete. Define a set of actions to address it requires knowledge of the complex relationships established between society and the environment to identify and monitor the causes and consequences of the process. The modeling of this reality remains a challenge for researchers worldwide, especially in Brazil, due to the large number of aspects to be considered for which there is not always reliable and available information. To reduce this gap, this study structured a system of evaluation and spatial comparison of desertification for the 32 municipalities of Seridó geographical microregions in Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte from a set of 27 indicators recommended in the related literature, organized according to the conceptual model DPSIR - forces, pressures, state, impacts, and responses. The indicators, either discrete or continuously distributed, were calculated, normalized, adjusted for the direct or inverse relationship with desertification, weighted by experts from different areas of knowledge and organized into raster type information plans. Multicriteria decision analysis techniques incorporated into a geographic information system were used to develop multicriteria desertification indexes for each DPSIR category as instruments for assessing the structural causes, direct causes, susceptibility, consequences and society’s responses to the problem. The results pointed out that the structural causes of the process, including land concentration, social inequality and consumption culture, hold 49.7% of the area in a moderate, strong or very strong level of desertification. Direct causes, represented by deforestation and inadequate land management, affect 19.7% of the area in the same way. Regarding environmental, economic and social susceptibility, 83% of the area is subject to initiate or aggravate desertification processes at moderate, strong and very strong levels. The impacts of the process, observed by migration from the countryside to the city and by the decline of agriculture and livestock’s contribution to local GDP, occur equally in 73.5% of the area. Finally, only 19.9% of the area is relatively prepared to tackle the problem through the organization of government and civil society. In an overall assessment, 59.7% of the region is subjected to moderate, strong or very strong levels of desertification, considering all the 27 descriptors of the problem. Most of the region, according to the study, demand actions of governments and society to expand rural population access to land, income generation or transfer programs, universal basic education, agroecological technical assistance, native vegetation recovery programs, social protection services for the contingents that migrate to the cities, among other initiatives, aiming to confront the desertification process and mitigate its consequences.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:52:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AnaJMC.pdf: 1053924 bytes, checksum: 8219e827a78f7299f4d405dcd951ec89 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-24 / This master thesis has the objective of investigating the strategic decision criteria of participants of Local Production Arrangements (LPA) in Brazil. The LPA s are an initiative of support agents to enterprises with the purpose of organizing joint actions for the development of groups (clusters) of enterprises. The choice of the actions is a decision of the participating enterprises and this paper aims at applying a Multi-criteria Analysis Method to analyze the criteria of entrepreneurs that are participating of a LPA. The used method is the Process of Analytical Hierarchy (PAH) and an application is presented along with questionnaires to participants of a ceramic LPA in the northeast of Brazil. The main results show that, in first place, from the implicit strategy of each enterprise there is only one objective for the LPA group and so, at the beginning, an action decided by all of them tends to favor some more than others. In second place, it was observed that there are general inconsistencies between the strategic objectives and the importance as to criteria, even though there have been cases of coherency. As the main conclusion it is pointed that the use of Methods of MCDA is useful to improve the decision making process and to bring more transparency to the logic of the found results / Esta Tese de Mestrado tem por objetivo investigar os crit?rios de decis?o estrat?gica de participantes de arranjos produtivos locais (APL) no Brasil. Os APL?s s?o uma iniciativa de agentes de apoio a empresas no sentido de organizar a??es conjuntas para desenvolvimento de agrupamentos (clusters) de empresas. As escolhas das a??es ? uma decis?o das empresas participantes e este trabalho procura aplicar um m?todo de An?lise de Decis?o Multi-Crit?rios para analisar os crit?rios de empres?rios participantes em um APL. O m?todo utilizado ? o Processo de Hierarquia Anal?tica (AHP) e ? realizada uma aplica??o com question?rios aos participantes de um APL de cer?mica no Nordeste do Brasil. Os principais resultados mostram que, em primeiro lugar, decorrente da estrat?gia impl?cita de cada empresa n?o h? um ?nico objetivo para o APL e, portanto, a princ?pio, uma a??o decidida por todos tende a favorecer a uns mais que a outros. Em segundo lugar, observou-se que h? em geral inconsist?ncias entre os objetivos estrat?gicos e a import?ncia relativa dos crit?rios, embora tenha havido casos de coer?ncia. Como principal conclus?o aponta-se que o uso de m?todos de MCDA ? ?til para melhorar o processo de decis?o e trazer maior transpar?ncia da l?gica dos resultados encontrados

abstract: One of the key infrastructures of any community or facility is the energy system which consists of utility power plants, distributed generation technologies, and building heating and cooling systems. In general, there are two dimensions to “sustainability” as it applies to an engineered system. It needs to be designed, operated, and managed such that its environmental impacts and costs are minimal (energy efficient design and operation), and also be designed and configured in a way that it is resilient in confronting disruptions posed by natural, manmade, or random events. In this regard, development of quantitative sustainability metrics in support of decision-making relevant to design, future growth planning, and day-to-day operation of such systems would be of great value. In this study, a pragmatic performance-based sustainability assessment framework and quantitative indices are developed towards this end whereby sustainability goals and concepts can be translated and integrated into engineering practices. New quantitative sustainability indices are proposed to capture the energy system environmental impacts, economic performance, and resilience attributes, characterized by normalized environmental/health externalities, energy costs, and penalty costs respectively. A comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment is proposed which includes externalities due to emissions from different supply and demand-side energy systems specific to the regional power generation energy portfolio mix. An approach based on external costs, i.e. the monetized health and environmental impacts, was used to quantify adverse consequences associated with different energy system components. Further, this thesis also proposes a new performance-based method for characterizing and assessing resilience of multi-functional demand-side engineered systems. Through modeling of system response to potential internal and external failures during different operational temporal periods reflective of diurnal variation in loads and services, the proposed methodology quantifies resilience of the system based on imposed penalty costs to the system stakeholders due to undelivered or interrupted services and/or non-optimal system performance. A conceptual diagram called “Sustainability Compass” is also proposed which facilitates communicating the assessment results and allow better decision-analysis through illustration of different system attributes and trade-offs between different alternatives. The proposed methodologies have been illustrated using end-use monitored data for whole year operation of a university campus energy system. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2018

Este trabalho trata da logística envolvida em operações de resposta a desastres, com foco na entrega final de suprimentos destinados a ajudar vítimas. Seu propósito é investigar os objetivos pertinentes ao planejamento do transporte da carga e encontrar uma metodologia para definir estratégia que sirva à tomada de decisão em campo. Para tanto, primeiramente identifica-se os objetivos adotados em modelos de Pesquisa Operacional para a tarefa em questão, através da análise de conteúdo das publicações pertinentes. Então, a abordagem do Pensamento Focado em Valores é utilizada para estruturar o problema. Finalmente, o método Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique Exploiting Ranks (SMARTER) é empregado na construção de um modelo de Análise da Decisão Multicritério (ADM), com consulta a um profissional experiente da área humanitária e aproveitando a análise da literatura previamente realizada. Neste processo, são elaboradas e avaliadas seis alternativas para a tomada de decisão condizentes com os valores da comunidade humanitária. Os resultados obtidos mostram que existe incompatibilidade entre os critérios de desempenho identificados nas publicações existentes e os objetivos perseguidos pelo Tomador da Decisão (TD) real. De acordo com o modelo construído, o atendimento de prioridades e a manutenção da sustentabilidade da operação são os objetivos que devem ser levados em conta para planejar a entrega de carga em pós-desastre, sendo que o custo e a equidade da distribuição não devem ser considerados. Conclui-se que o método adotado é útil à definição destes critérios e também ao desenvolvimento de estratégias que resultem em distribuições de ajuda melhores, aos olhos do próprio TD. Desta forma, ressalta-se que este trabalho contribui à área da Logística Humanitária com a investigação dos objetivos, assim como ao campo da ADM pela formalização dos processos de elaboração de alternativas, além da adição de mais uma aplicação possível ao repertório do método SMARTER. / This study concerns the logistics of disaster response operations, with a focus on final delivery of supplies to victims. The objectives here are to investigate what objectives are pertinent to the transportation-planning task and to find a methodology for choosing a strategy that aids decision-making on the field. For achieving these, a content analysis of Operations Research models is done, allowing the identification of such objectives, from which the problem is structured using a Value-Focused Thinking approach. Subsequently, the Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Exploiting Ranks (SMARTER) is employed to build a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) model, consulting an experienced humanitarian professional and taking into account the results from the previous analysis. Throughout this process, six alternatives for making decisions are designed and evaluated based on the objectives defined. Findings are that there is incompatibility between performance criteria identified in the literature and objectives pursued by a real Decision Maker (DM). From the model presented by this thesis, one concludes that satisfying priorities and sustaining the response operation are the objectives to be taken into account when drawing an aid distribution plan. It also follows that the methodology adopted here is useful to defining such performance criteria and to develop strategies that result in better outcomes, as judged by the DM. Therefore, this study contributes to Humanitarian Logistics research area by casting a light on the objectives of a post-disaster task, and to the MCDA field by formalizing the process of designing alternatives for complex problems, besides adding a new application of SMARTER to its repertory.

As estratégias para executar o transporte rodoviário de granéis sólidos agrícolas no Brasil são um desafio à tomada de decisão. Este trabalho emprega a coordenação vertical e a análise da decisão para apresentar uma discussão acerca do processo decisório nas organizações. O método de análise multicritério, baseado em curvas de valor, permite a comparação de arranjos de governança em situações específicas. Para isso, foram definidos os principais objetivos, critérios e variáveis dos problemas de verticalização no transporte, e os resultados obtidos apontaram que o transporte verticalizado apresentou pior desempenho do que alternativas híbridas ou terceirizadas. Tal resultado suporta que em ambientes com alta dependência de custos e com baixa especificidade do ativo há maior tendência de se encontrar estruturas híbridas ou coordenadas via mercado. O levantamento descritivo do transporte rodoviário com empresas embarcadoras de cargas agrícolas bem como o resultado do modelo multicritério aplicado apontaram um mercado de transporte altamente terceirizado, que seria fomentado pela atual incerteza e baixa profissionalização dos transportadores rodoviários. À medida que a diferença de preços entre o modelo terceirizado e verticalizado diminui, há preferência pela estrutura hierárquica, dado o seu melhor desempenho nos benefícios oferecidos. Diante das mudanças no ambiente institucional, tal como a regulamentação dos transportes, os arranjos competitivos podem sofrer alterações. Para os tomadores de decisão, as estruturas verticalizadas poderiam compor com maior escala as estratégias das embarcadoras à medida que os custos da operação própria se aproximem dos valores praticados pelas transportadoras. / The strategies to perform the transportation of agricultural commodities by truck in Brazil are a challenge to decision making. This paper brings together vertical coordination and decision analysis, to present a discussion of decision making in organizations. The Multiple Criterial Decision Analisys (MCDA), method based on value functions, allows comparison of governance arrangements in specific situations. After define the main objectives, criteria and variables found in transport verticalization problems, the results showed worse performance of verticalized arrengements than hybrid or outsourced alternatives. This result supports that in environments with high dependence on low costs and asset low specificity are more likely to meet hybrid or market coordinated structures. However, the descriptive survey of road transport with agricultural shippers and the results of the multicriterial model indicated a highly outsourced transport market, which would be fostered by the current uncertainty and low professionalism of haulers. As the price difference between the outsourced model and vertical decreases there is a preference for hierarchical structure given his best performances in the benefits offered. Given the changes in the institutional environment, such as the transport regulation, competitive arrangements may change. This type of preference by decision makers would compose the vertical structures with more scale strategies by shippers.

The successful energy design of buildings requires that special attention be paid to the conceptual stage. However, it is a difficult task to find the most promising design alternatives satisfying several conflicting criteria. This thesis presents a simple multi-criteria decisions analysis method that could assist designers in green building design. Variables in the model include those alternatives that are common options when a residential building is to be constructed. The individual components that are considered are the building envelope, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, service water heating, power and lighting. The key actors, objectives and methodology of multi-criteria decisions analysis are presented and finally a case study for a residential building in Athens is performed. The criteria by which to evaluate each building component of the newly built construction were identified by the decision-makers. Subsequently, decision frameworks for the selection of roof, walls, windows, heating system, energy source for heating system, power source, lighting and service water heating system were built. The method is followed step-by-step to conclude on the optimal building components based on their score. Due to the equal scoring of the windows and an inapplicable combination of electric underfloor heating with air-to-water heat pump, the method is characterized by low accuracy. The fact that the building components have been treated individually sets the method as a basic one and indicates that a more complex one should be preferred when more trustworthy results are needed.

Extreme weather events have become a common occurrence and coastal communities are adversely affected by it. Studies have shown that the changing climate has increased the frequency and severity of storms, surging sea levels, and floods, as was seen with Hurricane Sandy (2012) and Typhoon Haiyan (2013). The need to be proactive in preparing for these events, as a means of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, is evident. This study focuses on the formal definition, measurement and simulation of coastal community preparedness and response to severe storm events. Preparedness and response requires resources, emergency plans, informed decision making and the ability to cope with unexpected events. A suite of preparedness indicators is developed using a three level hierarchical framework in the construction of a coastal community preparedness index to evaluate resources and plans. Informed decision making for emergency management personnel in the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is evaluated through a table-top exercise using a five-phase approach. Lastly, decision making with risk is introduced with a storm decision making simulation model. This study is applied to the case of the breakwater failure in the coastal community of Little Anse, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

In this thesis I consider possibility to spend my vacation in one of the three countries: Spain, France, Italy. In each country I chose ten cities, which I would like to visit. I will use Travel Salesman Problem to decide the best route inside each country according to three criteria: Cost, Minutes and Transport. There is also a possibility to choose the type of transport: train or combination of train and airplane. Also I will use Weighted goal programming and Chebyshev goal programming to optimize all criteria simultaneously. In the end I will use multiple -- criteria decision analysis to compare results. According to three methods (ORESTE, ELECTRE III, TOPSIS) I will choose one of the states for my vacation. I will make all calculation in program MPL and in Excel using solver SANNA.