B.C. marine energy resource atlas and decision support system

We present a web-based geospatial decision support system (DSS) to facilitate MRE development feasibility investigations in coastal British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. The DSS, known as the B.C. Marine Energy Resource Atlas, hosts an extensive database of geo-spatial information pertinent to MRE development. The data are integrated via multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to identify development hotspots. Previous MRE hotspot identification studies typically focus on visual presentation, employing traditional Geographic Information Software (GIS) to support MCDA. The DSS discussed herein is primarily focussed on visual exploration such that users are able to interact with the data and perform custom interrogations. In comparison to traditional GIS software, the web-based application enhances user-accessibility and alleviates reliance on the users\u2019 experience with GIS. Furthermore, we present a novel vector-based approach to MCDA not used in previous MRE hotspot identification studies. Previous studies typically employ MCDA using a fixed-resolution raster-based approach which introduces a trade-off between nearshore accuracy and computation time. The approach presented herein permitted dynamic resolution throughout the study domain diminishing this trade-off.Presented Wednesday August 30th, 2017 -- Tidal Resource Characterization 5, Civil Engineering Building, Room G10Pr\ue9sent\ue9 mercredi le 30 ao\ufbt, 2017 -- " Tidal Resource Characterization 5, Civil Engineering Building, Room G10 "Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye