ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (Dec 2017)

Land-Use Suitability in Northeast Iran: Application of AHP-GIS Hybrid Model

  • Elnaz Memarbashi,
  • Hossein Azadi,
  • Ali Akbar Barati,
  • Fatemeh Mohajeri,
  • Steven Van Passel,
  • Frank Witlox

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi6120396
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 12
p. 396

Abstract

Read online

Land-use suitability is the ability of a given type of land to support a defined use. Analysis of land-use suitability requires the consideration of a variety of criteria, not only the natural/physical capacity of a land unit, but also its socioeconomic and environmental impact implications. As land suitability is assessed within a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, it is formulated as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. The study was conducted in the Sangab Plain in northeast Iran. We investigated the study area’s suitability for grassland and agricultural uses. A hybrid method of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and GIS methodology was applied to evaluate land suitability based on a set of criteria and sub-criteria. Results showed that 20% of the study area had high (rich), 65% had medium (fair), and 15% had low (poor) suitability for agriculture. In terms of grassland use, the comparable amounts were, respectively, about 7%, 23%, and 70%. The lands of the Sangab Plain have medium potential for agricultural use and low potential for grassland use. This paper used both qualitative and quantitative techniques.

Keywords