Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark

As a cadastral boundary to separate water and land, the HighWater Mark (HWM) is important for coastal management and planning. However, contemporary research has failed to reach consensus on methods for HWM determination because of continual changes in tidal levels, together with unimpeded wave runu...

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Main Authors: Liu, Xin, Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia), Wright, Graeme, Arnold, Lesley, Liu, Q.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28803
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author Liu, Xin
Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia)
Wright, Graeme
Arnold, Lesley
Liu, Q.
author_facet Liu, Xin
Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia)
Wright, Graeme
Arnold, Lesley
Liu, Q.
author_sort Liu, Xin
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description As a cadastral boundary to separate water and land, the HighWater Mark (HWM) is important for coastal management and planning. However, contemporary research has failed to reach consensus on methods for HWM determination because of continual changes in tidal levels, together with unimpeded wave runup and the erosion and accretion of shorelines, which make it difficult to determine an agreeable position of the HWM. In this paper, a consistent and robust methodology is presented for the determination of the HWM over space and time. Existing HWM indicators are evaluated based on three criteria: precision, stability and inundation risk. These indicators are then integrated into a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model to assist in selecting the most suitable HWM determination methods for different purposes, such as coastal management or planning. The methodology is implemented using two coastal case studies inWestern Australia for testing the robustness of the developed methodology intwo distinctly different coastal environments. Research results show that the position of the dune toe is the most suitable indicator of the HWM for coastal hazards planning, and spatial continuity of tidal probability (SCTP) is the most ideal HWM for coastal property management purposes.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-288032017-11-02T07:22:48Z Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark Liu, Xin Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia) Wright, Graeme Arnold, Lesley Liu, Q. As a cadastral boundary to separate water and land, the HighWater Mark (HWM) is important for coastal management and planning. However, contemporary research has failed to reach consensus on methods for HWM determination because of continual changes in tidal levels, together with unimpeded wave runup and the erosion and accretion of shorelines, which make it difficult to determine an agreeable position of the HWM. In this paper, a consistent and robust methodology is presented for the determination of the HWM over space and time. Existing HWM indicators are evaluated based on three criteria: precision, stability and inundation risk. These indicators are then integrated into a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model to assist in selecting the most suitable HWM determination methods for different purposes, such as coastal management or planning. The methodology is implemented using two coastal case studies inWestern Australia for testing the robustness of the developed methodology intwo distinctly different coastal environments. Research results show that the position of the dune toe is the most suitable indicator of the HWM for coastal hazards planning, and spatial continuity of tidal probability (SCTP) is the most ideal HWM for coastal property management purposes. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28803 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2014.09.009 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Liu, Xin
Xia, Jianhong (Cecilia)
Wright, Graeme
Arnold, Lesley
Liu, Q.
Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark
title Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark
title_full Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark
title_fullStr Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark
title_full_unstemmed Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark
title_short Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the position of High Water Mark
title_sort multi-criteria decision making on the position of high water mark
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28803