Integrating multicriteria analysis and geographic information systems: the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) approach

The ordered weighted averaging (OWA) is a family of multicriteria combination (aggregation) procedures. The generality of OWA is related to its capability to implement different combination operators by selecting appropriate order weights. By specifying suitable order weights it is possible to change the form of aggregation from the minimum-type combination through all intermediate types including the conventional weighted linear combination, to the maximum-type combination. The paper focuses on the OWA method and an approach for integrating geographic information system (GIS) and OWA. It also discusses an application of the GIS-OWA system to a real-world environmental management problem that involves developing watershed management strategies in the Cedar Creek watershed in Ontario, Canada.