{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T05:00:55Z","timestamp":1774328455922,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,13]],"date-time":"2023-04-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1681344000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Operational Programme of the Centre Region","award":["Centro-01-0145-FEDER-023566"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Centro-01-0145-FEDER-023566"]}]},{"name":"Operational Programme of the Centre Region","award":["UIDB\/05183\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/05183\/2020"]}]},{"name":"National Funds","award":["Centro-01-0145-FEDER-023566"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Centro-01-0145-FEDER-023566"]}]},{"name":"National Funds","award":["UIDB\/05183\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/05183\/2020"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A flood vulnerability index was constructed by coupling Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping capabilities with an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Group Decision-Making (GDM) resulting from a paired comparison matrix of expert groups to assign weights to each of the standardised criteria. A survey was sent to 25 flood experts from government organisations, universities, research institutes, NGOs, and the private sector (56% academics and 44% non-academics). Respondents made pairwise comparisons for several criteria (population, socio-economic, buildings, and exposed elements) and sub-criteria. The group priorities were obtained by combining the Consistency Ratio (CR) and Euclidean Distance (ED) measures to assess the weight of each expert and obtain a final weight for each criterion and sub-criteria. In Portugal, 23 flood-prone areas were considered, and this work contributes with a tool to assess the flood vulnerability and consequently the flood risk. The flood vulnerability index was calculated, and the relevance of the proposed framework is demonstrated for flood-prone areas, in mainland Portugal. The results showed that in all five hydrographic regions, flood-prone areas with very high vulnerability were found, corresponding to areas with a high probability of flooding. The most vulnerable areas are Ponte de Lima in the North, Coimbra, and Pombal in the Centre; Loures in the Tagus and West Region; Set\u00fabal and Alc\u00e1cer do Sal in the Alentejo Region and Monchique in the Algarve Region. This methodology has the potential to be successfully applied to other flood-prone areas, combining the opinions of stakeholders validated by a mathematical model, which allows the vulnerability of the site to be assessed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app13084915","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,14]],"date-time":"2023-04-14T02:03:38Z","timestamp":1681437818000},"page":"4915","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["Assessing Vulnerability in Flood Prone Areas Using Analytic Hierarchy Process\u2014Group Decision Making and Geographic Information System: A Case Study in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9545-2584","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandra","family":"Mourato","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"MED&CHANGE\u2014Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE\u2014Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7006-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7252-8320","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paulo","family":"Fernandez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MED&CHANGE\u2014Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE\u2014Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7006-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, 6001-909 Castelo Branco, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7611-7630","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu\u00edsa Gomes","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u00c1gueda School of Technology and Management, Aveiro University, Rua Comandante Pinho e Freitas, N\u00ba 28, 3750-127 \u00c1gueda, Portugal"},{"name":"Research Centre of Geospatial Sciences, Porto University, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2174-6982","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Madalena","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MED&CHANGE\u2014Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE\u2014Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7006-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Architecture Department, Universidade de \u00c9vora, Ap. 94, 7006-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110127","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2020.110127","article-title":"A comprehensive approach to understanding flood risk drivers at the municipal level","volume":"260","author":"Santos","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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