Weight-of-Evidence Concepts: Introduction and Application to Sediment Management
Abstract
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has a variety of information available to support Civil Works project planning and operations. While this information must be interpreted to inform conclusions, clear guidance is often not available to describe how best to compare and integrate different types of information. This special report introduces a Weight of Evidence (WOE) approach that USACE staff can use to interpret the many Lines of Evidence (LOEs) available in the information based on the conclusions that they support and how much weight they each should have in the decision, helping to bridge the data-to-decisions gap. A case study is presented applying WOE to evaluate potential sediment placement sites for dredged material from New Haven Harbor, CT, the busiest port on Long Island Sound and one of the busiest ports in New England. The analysis demonstrates how diverse pieces of information can be evaluated based on their quality, resolution, and relevance and combined in the context of the problem at hand to aid robust and trans-parent USACE Civil Works decision making.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1048843
Entities
People
- Matthew D. Wood
- Matthew E. Bates
- Olivia C. Massey
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center