Evaluating Wind Erosion Sensitivity for Landfill Sites in New Mexico Using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP)

Abstract

The final closure veneer for municipal solid waste landfills must be designed to withstand an allowable annual soil loss from wind erosion over its design life. Veneer sensitivity to wind erosion depends on a multiplicity of intertwined variables. A Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is used to evaluate weightings for specific forcing function criteria to assess overall wind erosion sensitivity (WES) at current and former landfill locations based on input from multiple decision makers selected from consulting, regulatory, and academe sources. FAHP weights represent the degree of importance of a given criteria relative to an overall criterion. For WES assessment, three criteria were identified: climatic factor (CF) as a function of wind power density (WPD) and effective precipitation index (EPI), vegetation cover (VC), and soil erodibility given as a wind erodibility index (WEI). The results revealed almost equal importance for WPD and VC with WEI being the lesser important criteria. Rankings of thirteen landfill locations in New Mexico showed that Las Cruces was most susceptible to wind erosion with Los Alamos and Clines Corner being least susceptible. The assessment methodology is useful for identifying potential hot spots for wind erosion with respect to the design and maintenance of final cover for landfills.