GIS and Multicriteria Decision Analysis for Landfill Site Selection in Al-Hashimyah Qadaa

Mohammad Ali Alanbari,Hadeel Kareem Jasim,Nadhir Al-Ansari

doi:10.4236/ns.2014.65032

Abstract

Waste management system is not well regulated in Iraq. Despite the fact that there are various techniques used for solid waste disposal, landfill is the most common mode for the disposal of solid waste in Iraq, landfill site selection criteria is quite complex process and it depends on several regulation and factors. In this study landfill site selection is performed by using Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and Geographic Information System (GIS) for the Al-Hashimyahqadaa. Existing landfills in qadaa are temporary and/or non-conforming to the environmental conditions. In order to determine landfill site, several criteria were examined such as urban centers, land use, airports, pipes, power lines, railways, roads, slope, streams, surface water, industrial areas, oil pipes, liquid gas pipes, soil types are prepared. MCDA was used to measure the relative importance weighting for each criterion. Each map layer was prepared using GIS and the final suitable map was created by overlay analyses of each criterion map. According to the results, high and low suitable areas were determined in the study area. Field site check was performed to determine the accuracy and suitability of the candidate sites.

Highlights

Waste problem all over the world is of growing concern especially in developing countries [1] [2]
Landfill siting is an extremely difficult task to accomplish because the site selection process depends on different factors and regulations
The objective of this study is to select sites for an appropriate landfill area of Al-Hashimyahqadaa in Babylon governorate using the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)

Summary

Introduction

Waste problem all over the world is of growing concern especially in developing countries [1] [2]. Landfill siting is an extremely difficult task to accomplish because the site selection process depends on different factors and regulations. The increasing population densities, public health concerns, and less land available for landfill construction are the difficulties to overcome [4]. For this reason there are no international code that could be applied due to the variation of the factors involved in the site concerned [5] [6]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion