The master thesis presents the importance of assessment and mapping of coastal sensitivity to major oil spills using a multi-criteria analysis and assessment of coastal sensitivity factors. Following the general description of the problem on hand is a description of relevant sensitivity factors and methods for their evaluation. Next, an assessment of coastal sensitivity factors based on data collected at the workshops of the North Atlantic Maritime Incident Response System - NAMIRS project using multi-criteria Distance-based Analytic Hierarchy Process, or DAHP in short, is made. The analysis is described using cited examples of previous coastal sensitivity researches. The results of the analysis are then compared with the results of the multi-criteria assessment carried out on the project. To explain possible anomalies in the results, the work includes a calculation of the Cronbach’s alpha index, a measure of consistency among the subjects participating in a survey, which can be used for workshop evaluation. Finally, the work presents ways of combining the obtained factor estimates into a joint coastal sensitivity index, which is used for sensitive coastal areas mapping. In the case of an emergency, these act as a tool which helps first team responders decide on which sections of the surrounding coast should be prioritised over others.
|
