Factorial fuzzy programming for planning water resources management systems

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a factorial fuzzy programming (FFP) approach for planning water resources management systems. The conventional fuzzy method cannot reflect the interactions among uncertain system parameters nor quantify their interactive effects. This may lead to important interrelationships among system parameters being neglected in systems analysis, and the derived decisions may not be robust enough to support the management under uncertainties. The objective of this study is to develop an FFP approach to deal with such interactive uncertainties. Factorial analysis (FA) was integrated with the fuzzy technique to quantify the effects of multiple fuzzy modeling parameters on the system performance and to reveal their implicit interrelationships. A flood-diversion planning case was studied to illustrate the applicability of the FFP approach. The individual and interactive effects of fuzzy parameters on the system objectives were evaluated. The influential effects were identified and the implicit interrelationships within influential interactions were revealed.

Keywords:

• water resources management
• decision-making
• uncertainty
• factorial analysis
• fuzzy vertex method

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences Foundation [grant number 51190095], [grant number 51225904]; the 111 Project [B14008]; and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.