ISPRS-Archives

The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences

ISPRS-Archives

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

2194-9034

Copernicus Publications

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W17-2025-271-2026

Mapping the desealing potential of soils by coupling Multi-Criteria Analysis, GIS and AI: Nantes Metropolis case study (France)

Prezeau

Fabien

¹ ² Maanan

Mohamed

² Tahri

Meryem

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2994-3948

³ Le Guern

Cécile

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3691-5387

¹ ⁴

IRSTV (FR CNR 2488), 1 rue de la Noé, 44300 Nantes, France

LETG, Laboratoire – Environnement – Télédection – Géomatique, 44312 Nantes, France

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences – V Praze (CZU), Czech Republic

BRGM, Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières, 44323 Nantes, France

15 01 2026

XLVIII-4/W17-2025 271 278

2026

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This article is available from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-4-W17-2025/271/2026/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W17-2025-271-2026.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLVIII-4-W17-2025/271/2026/isprs-archives-XLVIII-4-W17-2025-271-2026.pdf

Desealing soils presents lots of benefits but also some risks. To take them into account in desealing strategies, a methodology was developed to map the desealing potential of soils in urban area. It is based on the use of a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) combined with a geographic information system (GIS). A set of 26 criteria were selected and divided into 4 themes: characteristics of impervious surfaces, soil infiltrability, environmental constraints, advantages/benefits of desealing. The scoring and weighting system was developed during workshops with technical departments from the Nantes metropolitan area (France), which served as a case study. Most sealed soils show a medium potential for desealing. High potential for desealing occur particularly in residential areas. Further tests are in progress to include additional social and legal criteria, as well as managing uncertainties.