Setting site specific critical loads: An approach using Endorsement Theory and Dempster–Shafer

Wadsworth, Richard A,; Hall, Jane R.. 2007 Setting site specific critical loads: An approach using Endorsement Theory and Dempster–Shafer. In: Brimblecombe, Peter; Hara, Hiroshi; Houle, Daniel; Novak, Martin, (eds.) Acid rain - deposition to recovery. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Springer, 399-405.

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Abstract/Summary

There is an increasing demand from conservation agencies for site-specific critical loads (CL); unfortunately, there is often very little specific information on a site to determine the important parameters needed to calculate the CL or on the spatial location of the “designated feature” in a site. Determining the most appropriate CL therefore involves using expert judegement to make decisions with incomplete and uncertain information. Endorsement Theory (Cohen, 1985) and Dempster–Shafer statistics (Dempster, 1967; Shafer, 1976) are, respectively, a decision-theoretic and a statistical technique for reasoning under those conditions (uncertainty and incompletness). A key reason for applying these techniques is that they make expert opinion explicit and available for scrutiny. Both techniques have been applied to the problem of setting an appropriate site specific CL, using heathland sites as a case study. Inital findings are encouraging; the uncertainty in expert judgement is made explict, the end results are intuitively reasonable and the methodology apparently acceptable to decision makers.

Item Type:	Publication - Book Section
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1007/s11267-006-9084-8
Programmes:	CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Biogeochemistry CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Environmental Informatics
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Emmett Watkins (to March 2011)
ISBN:	9781402058844
Format Availability:	Electronic, Print
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Reprinted from Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus, Volume 7, Issues 1-3, 2007
Additional Keywords:	Endorsement Theory, Dempster–Shafer, uncertainty, site specific critical loads
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Data and Information Atmospheric Sciences
Date made live:	15 Aug 2007 14:24 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/781

Item Type:

Publication - Book Section

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1007/s11267-006-9084-8

Programmes:

CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Biogeochemistry
CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Environmental Informatics

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Emmett
Watkins (to March 2011)

ISBN:

9781402058844

Format Availability:

Electronic, Print