Multi-criteria Evaluation Techniques Research Articles

Development of an automated method for flood inundation monitoring, flood hazard, and soil erosion susceptibility assessment using machine learning and AHP–MCE techniques

BackgroundOperational large-scale flood monitoring using publicly available satellite data is possible with the advent of Sentinel-1 microwave data, which enables near-real-time (at 6-day intervals) flood mapping day and night, even in cloudy monsoon seasons. Automated flood inundation area identification in near-real-time involves advanced geospatial data processing platforms, such as Google Earth Engine and robust methodology (Otsu’s algorithm).ObjectivesThe current study employs Sentinel-1 microwave data for flood extent mapping using machine learning (ML) algorithms in Assam State, India. We generated a flood hazard and soil erosion susceptibility map by combining multi-source data on weather conditions and soil and terrain characteristics. Random Forest (RF), Classification and Regression Tool (CART), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) ML algorithms were applied to generate the flood hazard map. Furthermore, we employed the multicriteria evaluation (MCE) analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for soil erosion susceptibility mapping.SummaryThe highest prediction accuracy was observed for the RF model (overall accuracy [OA] > 82%), followed by the SVM (OA > 82%) and CART (OA > 81%). Over 26% of the study area indicated high flood hazard-prone areas, and approximately 60% showed high and severe potential for soil erosion due to flooding. The automated flood mapping platform is an essential resource for emergency responders and decision-makers, as it helps to guide relief activities by identifying suitable regions and appropriate logistic route planning and improving the accuracy and timeliness ofemergency response efforts. Periodic flood inundation maps will help in long-term planning and policymaking, flood management, soil and biodiversity conservation, land degradation, planning sustainable agriculture interventions, crop insurance, and climate resilience studies.

Geo-spatial technology based on a multi-criteria evaluation technique used to find potential landfill sites in the town of Bule Hora in southern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Solid waste has surfaced as an eminent and critical concern of environmental and social significance on a global scale, and Ethiopia, a developing country with limited income, has also encountered unfavorable outcomes due to substandard waste management practices. When pinpointing a fitting landfill location in the town of Bule Hora, various ecological, economic, and societal aspects must be considered; these may result in discord and exacerbate a multifaceted and lengthy process. Hence, this research aims to identify prospective landfill sites within the town and utilize geospatial methods, such as Multi-Criteria Evaluation and Analytic Hierarchy Process, to accomplish its objectives. The utilization of geospatial technology and multi-criteria evaluation provides an efficient manner to simultaneously address all bottlenecks involved in the selection of an appropriate landfill location. Geospatial technology evaluates and manages environmental constraints, whereas multi-criteria assessment categorizes choices based on their desirability. Furthermore, by employing a restriction map adhering to established standards, seven landfill sites have successfully been identified within the town. The Land Suitability Index assesses site suitability based on ecological factors, while the Total Hauling Distance evaluates sites within an economic framework. AHP determines weightings through 25.4 pairwise comparisons, resulting in a consistency ratio of 1.95%. The cartographic analysis is conducted using ESRI ArcGIS version 10.8 software. The findings of this study reveal that 98.69% of the area under study is subject to restrictions. The study recommends the implementation of geospatial methods for identifying suitable landfill sites, which would aid in the decision-making process and prevent hasty decisions from triggering environmental degradation. Proper waste disposal would augment the quality of life for residents by diminishing health hazards. The study endeavors to serve as a reference for other developing countries in selecting appropriate landfill sites. Implications: The town of Bule Hora also faces the problem of waste disposal; there is no scientifically selected suitable landfill. Residents of the town of Bule Hora practice waste disposal in open fields, near settlements, water bodies, roads, agricultural land, and other places. The main sources of solid waste in the town are homes, shops, hotels, restaurants, open markets, hospitals, educational institutions, private clinics, etc. Water pollution can potentially lead to the spread of waterborne diseases. According to reports from the Bule Horas Health Department, many people are affected by water-related diseases every year. These open landfill systems with no regard for settlement, topography, geology, surface, or groundwater conditions are the consequences of these unsuitable habitats and health problems. To reduce these problems, this study plays an important role in determining the suitability of landfills for the town and proposing alternative measures that can minimize negative environmental impacts from waste. This study aims to apply geospatial-based technology to a multi-criteria assessment technique to select perfectly suitable landfill sites that are environmentally friendly, economically cost-effective, and socially responsible; examine the town’s current waste management system; calculate the selected parameter weights for feature ranking; and delineate solid waste landfills.

Spatial Analysis Model for the Evaluation of the Territorial Adequacy of the Urban Process in Coastal Areas

Coastal spaces are shaped by human activity. Approaching their urban spaces allows us to analyse the concepts of structure, growth, and management. Highlighting the problems associated with these concepts can lead to intensive scientific analysis and provide solid research methods. This paper focuses on the study of how the process of territorial occupation takes place and the urban forms it generates on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It is based on the consideration that the process of territorial occupation is deficient in its territorial adequacy. To analyse this, a methodology is proposed that addresses processes of analysis at different scales: dynamics of changes in land use, the study of the morphologies of urban development with spatial analysis tools, and the adaptation of urban processes to the characteristics of the spaces that support them with multi-criteria evaluation techniques and GIS (Geographical Information Systems). The results are specified in five degrees of suitability of the occupation of the territory. Two conclusions can be observed: first, urban planning gives rise to forms of occupation that follow a similar pattern in the twenty areas studied, and second, the suitability of the urban process is not governed by planning based on precepts of suitability and environmental logic but by a weakness of the adapted planning methods.

Multi-Criteria Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Computer Crime Disclosure Under Ecuadorian Legal Regulations

Decision-making based on multiple criteria is common in various contexts, recognized for its high complexity in seeking viable solutions. Computer crimes encompass any act with criminal intent that seeks to cause harm or put at risk a legally protected interest using computer tools. This study aims to determine whether residents of Santo Domingo are aware of computer crimes established in Ecuadorian legislation, employing multicriteria evaluation techniques and the TODIM and PROMETHEE methods. These methodologies are complemented by neutrosophic single-value sets, based on neutrosophic logic, to effectively manage the indeterminate and inconsistent information typical in real-world scenarios. In this way, the utility of these techniques for addressing complex problems in daily life and in various social domains is demonstrated.

Assessment of flood risk by using geospatial techniques in Wabi Shebele River Sub-basin, West Hararghe Zone, southeastern Ethiopia

Floods are produced as a result of several factors such as human-induced land-use changes, topographic conditions, and climate change. This study aimed to assess flood risk using geographic information system-based multi-criteria evaluation techniques in the Wabi Shebele River Sub-basin. Six parameters, namely, soil type, slope, land use and land cover, proximity to rivers, rainfall, and elevation, were used. The eigenvector of weight for each factor was computed in IDRISI Selva 17.0. Results show that the study area was subjected to a very high 527.31 km2 (9.42%), high 2133.66 km2 (38.12%), moderate 1906.44 km2 (34.06%), low 847.35 km2 (15.14%), and a very low 182.54 km2 (3.26%) flood risk, respectively. Results reveal that the Wabi Shebele River Sub-basin is highly vulnerable to flooding. This study assists policymakers with regard to land-use planning. To reduce the effects of flood risk, integrated watershed management must be implemented in the study area.

Geo-Appraisal of groundwater resource for sustainable exploitation and management in Ibulesoro, Southwestern Nigeria

Groundwater exploitation requires better understanding of the resource availability and quality/vulnerability. Geophysical techniques, pumping test, hydraulic measurement, borehole logging and quality test analysis have been used in Ibulesoro, southwestern Nigeria, to understanding the hydrogeological system in terms of groundwater availability, aquifer delineation, and evaluate the groundwater physico-chemical and biological contents. The study utilized multi-criteria evaluation techniques (GWPIV) to assess the overall aquifer potential/vulnerability. The geology of the area comprises granite, migmatite, migmatite gneiss, biotitic granite, and gneiss. The main water-bearing unit was the weathered layer and fractured basement, which are usually unconfined aquifer. The hydraulic conductivity and formation factor is related by y = 0.239e0.0519x with correlation coefficient of 0.0961. The average hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity are 0.52 m/d and 5.78 m2/d respectively. The hydrogeological parameters viability increases southwardly, just as groundwater movement/flow is due south. The average thickness of the weathered layer and overburden are 8.6 m and 16.1 m respectively, with dominant resistivity in the range of 80 – 200 ohm-m. The best drilling points (migmatite/gneiss geologic units) are where the fractured basement underlies the weathered layer which most not necessarily exceed 30 - 35 m. The average depth to basement rock is 16.1 m. The obtained GWPIV varied from 1.12 to 1.71, with an average of 1.30 suggesting low potential but good for drinking and irrigation uses in its present state, however highly vulnerability to contamination, as the vadose zone thickness (5.68 m avg.), AVI (0.57 avg.), and LC (0.0818 mhos avg.) all point to the low protective capability. The water types is mixed Ca-Mg-Cl. The mechanism controlling the groundwater quality falls in the mixed zone, which indicates contribution from soil/rock-water interaction, precipitation, and evaporation; while carbonic weathering is more active than the silicate weathering process.

Windstorm Hazardous Area Mapping Using Multi-Criteria Evaluation Techniques of Fuzzy Logic Approach

The goal of this study to determine the most exposed area to windstorm event using fuzzy logic approach. Respond to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 and 13, Sustainable Cities and Communities and Climate Action, this study was conducted to establish the preparedness in high-risk region. To achieve this goal, the influencing indicator was identified based on previous study. The related indicator comprises of wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, slope, population, road, and land use. Fuzzy membership model implemented to aggregating the indicator to standard value 0 to 1. A fuzzy model was used as a method to integrate the constructed index values, and a frequency ratio was used to determine the fuzzy membership value. Different fuzzy operators (AND, OR, SUM, PRODUCT, and GAMMA) are applied to generate windstorm hazard map. The fuzzy gamma (γ) operator, with γ equal to 0.9, was used to create wind hazard map into different zones of five relative sensitivity classes: very high, high, moderate, low, and very low. 10.65% of study area has very high sensitivity towards windstorm hazard which distributed at high area (Banjaran titiwangsa), West Coast area (Pahang and West Johor) and north area (Perlis). In addition, some part in the surrounding region of Peninsular Malaysia were also identified as windstorm hazard due to the dense of urban area such at Johor Bharu and Klang Valley area. 7.20% of the study area has very-low windstorm hazard and is mainly located in the middle part.

Flood hazards and risk mapping using geospatial technologies in Jimma City, southwestern Ethiopia

Cities in Ethiopia are suffering from unprecedented floods due to climate change and other anthropogenic activities. Failure to include land use planning and poorly designed urban drainage system aggravates the problem of urban flood. The integration of geographic information system, and multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) technique were used for flood hazards and risk mapping. Five factors namely slope, elevation, drainage density, land use land cover, and soil data were used for flood hazards and risk mapping. Agrowing urban population increases the risk of flood victims during the rainy season. Results revealed that about 25.16 and 24.38% of the study area is categorized under very high and high flood hazards, respectively. The topographic nature of the study area increases flood risk and hazards. The increaseing number of people living in the city has led to the conversion of previously occupied green lands into residential areas aggravates flood hazards and risk. Flood mitigation measures such as better land use planning, public awareness creation on flood hazards and risks, delineation of flood risk areas during the rainy seasons, increasing greenery, strengthening river side development, and watershed management in the catchment are urgently required. The findings of this study can provide a theoretical background for flood hazards risk mitigation and prevention.

Integrated Approach for Landslide Risk Assessment Using Geoinformation Tools and Field Data in Hindukush Mountain Ranges, Northern Pakistan

Landslides are one of the most recurring and damaging natural hazards worldwide, with rising impacts on communities, infrastructure, and the environment. Landslide hazard, vulnerability, and risk assessments are critical for landslide mitigation, land use and developmental planning. They are, however, often lacking in complex and data-poor regions. This study proposes an integrated approach to evaluate landslide hazard, vulnerability, and risk using a range of freely available geospatial data and semi-quantitative techniques for one of the most landslide-prone areas in the Hindukush mountain ranges of northern Pakistan. Very high-resolution satellite images and their spectral characteristics are utilized to develop a comprehensive landslide inventory and predisposing factors using bi-variate models to develop a landslide susceptibility map. This is subsequently integrated with landslide-triggering factors to derive a Landslide Hazard Index map. A geospatial database of the element-at-risk data is developed from the acquired remote sensing data and extensive field surveys. It contains the building’s footprints, accompanied by typological data, road network, population, and land cover. Subsequently, it is analyzed using a spatial multi-criteria evaluation technique for vulnerability assessment and further applied in a semi-quantitative technique for risk assessment in relative risk classes. The landslide risk assessment map is classified into five classes, i.e., very low (18%), low (39.4%), moderate (26.3%), high (13.3%), and very high (3%). The developed landslide risk index map shall assist in highlighting the landslide risk hotspots and their subsequent mitigation and risk reduction.

Flood Hazard and Risk Area Identification: A Case of Gelana River Watershed, Southern Ethiopia

Floods are among the most devastating natural disasters in the world, claiming more lives and causing more damage to properties than any other natural phenomena. This study specifies flood hazard areas as well as flood risk areas of Gelana River Watershed. It specifically aims to investigate factors that create good conditions for flood hazard, generate flood hazard and risk areas from environmental and socio-economic factors using integration of Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) and Geospatial Techniques. The research was conducted using quantitative research approach. Therefore, slope, elevation, soil type, land use land cover (LULC), and drainage density were the environmental factors developed for the generation of flood hazard. In addition, flood hazard, LULC and population data factors were developed to generate flood risk areas of Gelana river watershed. As the result, flood hazard map reveals 64.68, 1769.48, 1345.38, 244.37, 10.73 square kilometers of Gelana river watershed, is subjected to very high, high, moderate, low and very low flood hazardous respectively. It is revealed that 46.52% of the watershed has very high to high flood risk. The rest 47.20%, 6.24%, and 0.05% of the study area has medium, low and very low flood risk respectively. Therefore, the area incorporated under very high and high hazardous and risk areas are located around the Main River and lower course of the watershed.

Sanitary landfill site selection using GIS-based on a fuzzy multi-criteria evaluation technique: a case study of the City of Kraljevo, Serbia.

Adequate disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of Serbia's most complex environmental challenges. The problem is more serious in urban areas, since large amounts of waste are disposed of in locations that do not comply with environmental, technical, and socio-economic standards. Such is the case for the city of Kraljevo, where about 116,000 inhabitants do not have a sanitary landfill facility. This research includes a multi-criteria analysis, conducted with the help of geographic information systems, to find a suitable landfill site location. After data collection, the first step was to process 15 environmental and socio-economic factors utilizing the fuzzy analytic-hierarchy process method. The second step comprised the visual analysis and selection of the ten most suitable locations from the synthetic convenience map. The third step involved the final ranking of sites by means of the fuzzy multi-objective analysis by ratio, plus the full multiplicative form method, based on four additional beneficial and non-beneficial criteria. The results show that sanitary landfill candidate site A4 is the most suitable location for constructing a sanitary landfill site due to its large area (569ha) and relatively short distance from the urban zone (8km). This study is the first to integrate geographic information systems and the fuzzy analytic-hierarchy process, multi-objective analysis by ratio, and the full multiplicative form algorithm for sanitary landfill selection. The results of the research can be used as a reference for safe waste disposal in the city of Kraljevo.

Evaluation of Employee performance management using VIKOR Method

An effective performance management strategy motivates actions to support big picture goals and improve employee performance. Outline expectations and goals Create, provide feedback, evaluate results, and develop growth opportunities Leaders can use the Create process. Employee productivity is as the amount of work (or output) performed by an employee over a period of time is defined. As a manager, give your teammates their best Empower yourself to help you get the job done has You also have a responsibility. Employee three ways to measure From this analysis the VIKOR technique determines the maximum correct The solution with the shortest distance and the longest distance from solution A worst-case-good solution, however, is variation these distances is not taken into account. The VIKOR approach is a multi-criteria choice (MCDM) or multicriteria choice evaluation technique. Alternative: Communication skills, technical skills, analytical skills, creative skills. Assessment Option: With colleagues Communication, emphasis on friendship, openness with co-workers and other employees Respect and provide an environment conducive to expressing opinions, Density-based method. It is solved by using the VIKOR method. It is the data set of this paper. The result it is seen that Emphasis on friendship is got the first rank where as is the Respect for other employees is having the lowest rank. In this paper Emphasis on friendship is got the first rank whereas is the Respect for other employees is having the lowest rank.

Aridity Analysis Using a Prospective Geospatial Simulation Model in This Mid-Century for the Northwest Region of Mexico

Aridity is a condition in which there is a moisture deficit in the air and soil that affects large areas of the earth’s surface worldwide. It is a global problem caused mainly by factors related to climatic events and human actions. In the arid regions of Mexico, prolonged periods of drought are very common and water scarcity is the predominant feature. The main objective of this study is to develop a prospective geospatial simulation model for arid zones in the short and medium term (2030 and 2050) for the northwestern region of Mexico. A retrospective analysis of the variables that cause aridity was conducted based on historical data from satellite information obtained from various sources between 1985 and 2020, taking 2020 as the reference year; from this information the rate of change per year was obtained, followed by the simulated rates of change for the years 2030 and 2050. A methodology used to obtain arid zones using multicriteria evaluation techniques, weighted linear combination, and Geographic Information Systems. In order to generate the prospective model for arid zones, the variables were modeled to adjust the rate of change for each of them, with the same methodology subsequently applied to obtain the base year (2020), and aridity suitability maps were obtained for the years 2030 and 2050. The main results indicate that the prospective scenarios point to an increase in arid regions of 0.38% and 0.70%, respectively, which is equivalent to an area of approximately 240,164.63 km2 and 241,760.75 km2, respectively. This will cause a decrease in the subhumid–dry and humid regions of 0.10% and 0.19%, respectively, for the projected years. Statistical and geospatial aridity indicators were also generated at different levels, which helps to better understand the problem of aridity in vulnerable regions.

Land Suitability Evaluation of Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) Plantation in Kallar Watershed of Nilgiri Bioreserve, India

Nilgiri tea is a vital perennial beverage variety and is in high demand in global markets due to its quality and medicinal value. In recent years, the cultivation of tea plantations has decreased due to the extreme climate and prolonged practice of tea cultivation in the same area, decreasing its taste and quality. In this scenario, land suitability analysis is the best approach to evaluate the bio-physiochemical and ecological parameters of tea plantations. The present study aims to identify and delineate appropriate land best suited for the cultivation of tea within the Kallar watershed using the geographic information system (GIS) and multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) techniques. This study utilises various suitability criteria, such as soil (texture, hydrogen ion concentration, electrical conductivity, depth, base saturation, and drainability), climate (rainfall and temperature), topography (relief and slope), land use, and the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), to evaluate the suitability of the land for growing tea plantations based on the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) guidelines for rainfed agriculture. The resultant layers were classified into five suitability classes, including high (S1), moderate (S2), and marginal (S3) classes, which occupied 16.7%, 7.08%, and 16.3% of the land, whereas the currently and permanently not suitable (N1 and N2) classes covered about 18.52% and 29.06% of the total geographic area. This study provides sufficient insights to decision-makers and farmers to support them in making more practical and scientific decisions regarding the cultivation of tea plantations that will result in the increased production of quality tea, and prevent and protect human life from harmful diseases.

Choosing the best site for a technical backfill center for urban solid waste using a multi-criteria evaluation technique based on geographic information systems. Case study of the city of M'sila

Choosing the best site for a technical backfill center for urban solid waste using a multi-criteria evaluation technique based on geographic information systems. Case study of the city of M'sila

Urban resilience against natural disasters: Mapping the risk with an innovative indicators-based assessment approach

The increase in the frequency and intensity through which natural disasters have hit cities in the last twenty years has created the need to prefigure a model of sustainable urban development not only consistent with the goals promoted by the Agenda 2030, but also efficient in the regulation of the main cause of the natural disasters: consumption of natural soil. Therefore, the aim of the research is to define an indicators-based methodology for determining a synthetic natural risk index, which represents the degree of territorial exposure to multiple natural disasters in the different sub-urban areas within a vulnerable city. The proposed methodology is structured into eight sequential and ordered phases that comply a system of 23 indicators for the three main components of natural risk (hazard, exposure and vulnerability). Their importance is accounted in the final aggregation of the index through the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process multi-criteria evaluation technique. The validated results achieved by the application of the proposed methodology to the city of Rome (Italy), represented in a georeferenced map of the risk level of natural disasters, allow to immediately identify the most critical sub-urban areas on the west coast of the “Tevere” river. The proposed risk index may be useful for public and private subjects involved in the predisposition of sustainable urban plans and projects, aimed at improving the level of urban resilience connected to natural disasters aggravated by land consumption. In this way the targets of Goals n.13 “Reducing climate change” and n.15 “Life on Earth” of the Agenda 2030 can be applied at the sub-urban scale.

Cropland suitability assessment using multi criteria evaluation techniques and geo-spatial technology: A review

Cropland suitability assessment is an essential technique for agricultural development and future planning. It is an evaluation to determine how suitable the land is for growing a specific crop in a particular region based on multiple parameters like soil, climate, topography, socio-economic condition, infrastructure, irrigation, existing land use/land cover and environmental aspects. The paper presents different multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) techniques such as Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP), Analytic Network Process (ANP), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and ELimination Et Choice Translating REality (ELECTRE) approaches integrated with geospatial technology, namely remote sensing and Geographical Information System for cropland suitability assessment. Review findings indicate that the AHP technique was used by53% of the researchers, followed by FAHP (16%); ANP (6%); TOPSIS (6%); ELECTRE (3%) and other techniques (16%) with or without geospatial technology. The integrated approach of MCE with geospatial was used by 69%, among which AHP technique of MCE was used by 72%; whereas, 22% used geospatial and 9% used MCE techniques alone. The results from the selected research articles also indicated that the most important input parameters were soil, topography and climate used by 97%, 88% and 74% of the researchers, respectively. The review can be helpful for researchers and decision-makers to select the most robust methods and standard parameters required for cropland suitability assessment to achieve higher agricultural production on a sustained basis.

Mapping Groundwater Potential Zones Using Analytical Hierarchical Process and Multicriteria Evaluation in the Central Eastern Desert, Egypt

Exploring alternative freshwater resources other than those surrounding the Nile is critical to disperse Egypt’s population to other uninhabited desert areas. This study aims to locate groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) in the water-scarce desert between the Qina and Safga-Bir Queh regions to build groundwater wells, thereby attracting and supporting people’s demand for water, food, and urban development. Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) and analytical hierarchical process (AHP) techniques based on remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) were used to map GWPZs. The outcome of the GWPZs map was divided into six different classes. High and very-high aquifer recharge potentials were localized in the middle and western parts, spanning 19.3% and 17% (16.4% and 15.7%) by MCE (AHP). Low and very low aquifer recharge potentials were distributed randomly in the eastern part over an area of 29% and 14.3% (26.9% and 6.1%) by MCE (AHP). Validation has been undertaken between the collected Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) and with the calculated GWPZs, indicating that the highest and lowest TDS concentrations of most aquifers are correlated with low to very low and high to very high aquifer potential, respectively. The study is promising and can be applied anywhere with similar setups for groundwater prospect and management.

Identification of suitable areas for fodder production in Ethiopia

Despite Ethiopia’s significant livestock population, the largest in Africa, productivity is constrained by the seasonality of feed quality and quantity. Developing improved fodder production systems can contribute to poverty reduction goals and thereby enhance social-ecological resilience through building risk buffering assets. Therefore, this study focuses on evaluating the suitability of lands for selected fodder crops in Ethiopia applying GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques and accessing the irrigation potential of the shallow groundwater. Groundwater data collected from the British Geological Survey (BGS) was used to assess the groundwater irrigation potential. The fodder crops selected were Napier (Pennisetum purpureum), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), oats (Avena sativa), vetch (Vicia sativa), and desho (Pennisetum pedicellatum). The key factors that significantly affect land suitability for fodder production evaluated include climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration), physical land features (land use, soil, and slope), and market access (livestock population and proximity to roads). The factors were weighted with a pairwise comparison matrix followed by reclassification and overlaying to identify suitable areas for irrigated fodder production. The results indicated that ∼ 31% of the country (∼350,500 km2) is highly suitable for producing desho, followed by vetch (23%), Napier (20%), Alfalfa (13%), and Oats (12%). The basin level analysis indicated that the Abbay river basin has the largest suitable area for Napier and Oats production while the Genale-Dawa River basin has the largest suitable area for alfalfa, vetch, and desho production. The analysis also indicated that the suitable area has access to groundwater that could be accessed with simple water-lifting technologies (≤30 m from the surface). This study provides useful insights for decision-makers, practitioners, and the private sector to prioritize and scale fodder production in Ethiopia.

GIS and remote sensing coupled with analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for the selection of appropriate sites for landfills: a case study in the province of Ouarzazate, Morocco

The province of Ouarzazate has a population of 10,744 and is divided into 17 communes (15 rural communes and 2 urban communes), the majority of which have a population of less than 2000 people. Currently, more than 42% of the total population does not have access to a controlled landfill that meets all the socio-environmental criteria defined by Law 28-00 and its implementing regulations. The most typical landfills are located in small villages that resemble illegal dumps or dark areas close to the inhabitants. Moreover, in 2009, a controlled landfill was established near the city of Ouarzazate. Over time, urban extensions tend to move towards the site of the landfill following the development plans of the city, which influences the environmental life and health of the new population. Indeed, this landfill is considered to be located in the wrong place according to the results of our study; it does not meet all the main socio-environmental criteria. For these reasons, this study was conducted to identify appropriate landfill sites and waste transfer centers using geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing coupled with multi-criteria evaluation techniques such as AHP. Eleven criteria were selected, including distance to protected areas, wind direction, subsurface geology, lineament density, distance to surface water (river systems and dams), soil quality, distance to roads, elevation, and slope. The rasters of all the criteria were prepared, processed, and overlaid in the GIS environment by assigning each parameter its weight according to its importance. In the field, five sites have been provisionally selected, but only sites D and B have been given higher priority because of their geographical location, large surface area, geological imperviousness, zero risks, better soil quality, distance from any protection zone, any water point or hydrographic network, and their accessibility by provincial roads. These sites are located very close to the province’s waste hubs, which helps reduce the cost of transporting waste to the new landfill.