Suitability Analysis
Definition
Suitability analysis scores locations based on how well they meet criteria for a purpose—conservation, development, agriculture, or infrastructure. It combines standardized factor layers (e.g., slope, soils, distance to roads, zoning) with weights from expert judgment or learning, optionally under constraints and exclusions. Outputs are ranked maps and candidate site lists with sensitivity analysis that shows how rankings shift when assumptions change.
Application
Agencies choose wind farm sites balancing wind resource and environmental constraints; retailers rank parcels for expansion; conservation groups identify restoration priorities; and emergency planners find shelter sites that maximize accessibility while avoiding hazards.
FAQ
How do you standardize heterogeneous criteria fairly?
Transform each criterion to a consistent 0–1 scale using value functions that reflect diminishing returns or thresholds; document the transforms for transparency.
What is the role of constraints versus weighted factors?
Constraints are hard exclusions (e.g., protected areas, setback buffers); weighted factors express preference within the remaining space. Mixing the two avoids illegal or infeasible picks.
How do you prevent correlated layers from dominating the score?
Inspect correlation, reduce redundancy, or apply principal components; otherwise similar layers can double-count the same effect.
When should optimization replace simple ranking?
If limited budgets, spacing rules, or capacity targets exist, use integer programming to select the best portfolio of cells or parcels rather than just the top-scoring ones independently.
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