GIS-based multicriteria analysis for landslide monitoring base station evaluation using ordered weight averaging

Abstract

A slope monitoring system is important for power utilities since its assets, especially transmission lines at high altitude areas, are vulnerable to landslide. One of the best methods for real-time monitoring is by deploying appropriate sensors for slope failure detection. Sensor data are gathered electronically via antenna and sent through communication channels to a centralized location for processing. This telemetry system relies on wide area communication accessible at that location. To improve network performance, the position of every antenna should be strategically planned to ensure data integrity. However, there are numerous factors to be considered in the selection and deployment of communication technologies such as topography, accessibility, power supply availability and others. Therefore, this study proposes a Geographical Information System (GIS)-based system with an emphasis on the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for preliminary site suitability of antenna placement. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to generate an alternative decision using a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) technique, standardized by fuzzy membership functions. The factors are classified into five main criteria which are technical, topography, risk assessment, land cover and accessibility criteria and then the weight is justified by the experts for final weight consensus. The criteria maps were combined and overlaid using weighted linear combination (WLC) techniques and ordered weighted average (OWA). The results yielded that GIS-WLC and OWA model can be integrated into MCDA to select the optimal site of antenna placement.