Geospatial multi-criteria decision-support system

This study proposes a multi-criteria decision-support system (MCDSS) for the strategic siting and maintenance planning of floating offshore wind farms by linking spatial suitability assessment with operational logistics. The approach combines GIS-based constraint screening and a transparent multicriteria ranking of feasible candidates to evaluate technical, environmental, and logistical factors (e.g., wind conditions, bathymetry, sea currents, marine constraints, and proximity to ports) using real geospatial datasets from eight Spanish coastal sectors. Site selection is performed through constraint-based screening and rule-based ranking, followed by the identification of feasible candidate locations under planning constraints. Maintenance planning is then optimized using a Asymmetric Traveling Salesman Problem (ATSP) formulation to reduce vessel travel effort and improve operational efficiency. To consistently connect environmental suitability with logistics, we introduce a novel data-driven balancing coefficient ϕ ∈ [0, 1] that controls the trade-off between environmental performance and logistical effort, accounting for distance to port as well as vessel transit and idle time within a unified workflow.s vessel transit and idle time within a unified
workflow.