A raster-based C program for siting a landfill with optimal compactness

Abstract

Landfill siting requires performing spatial analyses for various factors to evaluate site suitability. A geographical information system, although capable of effectively manipulating spatial data, lacks the capability to locate an optimal site when compactness and other factors are considered simultaneously. In our previous work, a mixed-integer compactness model was proposed to overcome this difficulty. However, computational time with a conventional mixed-integer programming package for solving the model is time consuming and impractical. Therefore, in this work, a C program is developed, based on a proposed raster-based branch-and-bound algorithm. The program can implement multi-factor analyses for compactness and other siting factors with weights prespecified by the user. An example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd