Integrated Weighting Technique for Coastal Vulnerability to Storm Surges

ABSTRACT Yuan, S.; Guo, J., and Zhao, X., 2017. Integrated weighting technique for coastal vulnerability to storm surges. In: Zhi, Y. and Guido Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Sustainability of Water Resources and the Development of Coastal Environments: Select Proceedings from the 2016 International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2016). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 80, pp. 6–12. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Weighting different indicators plays a critical role in quantifying vulnerability to natural disasters. However, there is no consensus about which weighting method performs best. This paper proposed a method to aggregate different weighting techniques to quantify vulnerability to storm surges using social, economic, and environmental indicators. Viewing vulnerability through exposure, sensitivity, and adaptability dimensions, a geographic information system was used to establish areas of vulnerability in eleven coastal provinces in China. The results suggested that...