Blending the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Logical Systems in Scenic Beauty Assessment of Check Dams in Streams

With Taiwan’s steep terrain and fracture geology, natural disasters are likely to occur after heavy rainfall. To reduce the effects of upstream sediment on human surroundings, check dams are an essential transverse structure for streams in watersheds. However, there is likely to be a detrimental visual impact on the landscape without consideration of the integration of dams with the environment. Based on previous studies of landscape assessment, this paper considers the factors of texture, color, and form, often used as part of expert paradigms, as the major aesthetic aspects of check dams. These factors are used to construct an expert questionnaire using the Delphi Method and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The preliminary criteria and weights for Scenic Beauty Assessment of check dams are determined based on the results of AHP. A Fuzzy Logical System is further applied to solve the linguistic fuzziness of landscape assessment so as to establish a complete expert scenic beauty assessment model. Five cases are further tested for comparison with 224 public samples with Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE). Results demonstrate that the model presents the validity of expert paradigm and the reliability of the psychophysical paradigm. These results can provide a reference for engineering designers seeking to integrate check dams with the natural landscape. The results indicate that the present method can efficiently assess the scenic beauty of check dams as established by a scientific method.