Environmental risk management with the use of multi‐criteria spatial decision support system DECERNS

Environmental risk‐based land management requires implementation of tools for spatial information analysis, problem‐oriented models for assessment of risk values, and corresponding methods for decision‐making support. A new framework decision evaluation in complex risk network systems (DECERNS) has been developed to address this class of problems. DECERNS is a web‐based spatial decision support system (WebSDSS) for multi‐criteria analysis of a wide range of spatially‐distributed alternatives, including land‐use planning and management. It integrates basic and advanced GIS functions with several multi‐criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods and tools. One of the features of the DECERNS WebSDSS is a capability to incorporate various generic and site‐specific models for risk analysis and assessment of other decision criteria which are considered within a multi‐criteria problem. This paper provides an overview of methods and tools used in DECERNS, emphasising the integration of models into the WebSDSS. Application of DECERNS for a case study on multi‐criteria risk management for ¹³⁷Cs contaminated land resulting from Chernobyl is presented.