Dual-objective pattern optimization method for land suitability zoning in mountain counties

As the basic administrative unit of China,counties have grown rapidly in recent years in the context of rapid urbanization,especially for counties located in mountainous areas.The drastic changes in land in mountainous areas can easily cause irreversible damage to the sensitive ecological environment.Through the dual-objective suitability zoning of ecological and construction balance,regional sustainable land use patterns can be realized.In this study,Hantai District in Southern Shaanxi province,China,was chosen as the research area aiming at creating a balance between ecological supply and the development of construction in spatial planning.A dual-objective process evaluation system for ecological protection and construction development was proposed with 15 resistance factors selected from three attributes:natural ecology,economic society,and policy.The minimum resistance surface discrimination methods for ecological land and construction development land were proposed based on vertical space superposition and horizontal minimum cumulative resistance models.Finally,the land in Hantai District was divided into four development grades from the optimal angle of dual goals,i.e.,the construction core zone being 134.56 km^(2),the suitable construction zone 115.77 km2,the ecological buffer zone 153.74 km^(2),and the ecological control zone 151.93 km^(2),using the method combining resistance difference and threshold division.In addition,the development direction of each town under jurisdiction was identified.This study compensates for the deficiency of traditional methods that evaluate land only from a single vertical or horizontal process.

Extensive Pineapple Production Constraints and Land Suitability in the Centre Region of Cameroon

The low level of productivity observed in pineapple fields in Centre Came-roon must be sustainably reduced in order to increase producers’ income while using the same resources. The identification and control of production constraints are key steps in optimizing the use of limited resources. To this end, the FAO land assessment methodology following the Fuzzy-MCDM pro-tocol was used for the two pineapple production basins in the Centre, namely Awae and Bokito. It was found that the land in Awae Basin is moderately suitable S2sf with constraints imposed by texture, pH and base saturation. In the Bokito Basin, 25% of the land is suitable S1wf and 75% is moderately suitable S2wsf with constraints imposed by soil texture (27%), temporary soil water saturation (99%), pH, base saturation and exchangeable sodium. Constraint correction improves the land index (potential suitability) and re-mains limited by permanent constraints that cannot be corrected. Improve-ment of the technical itinerary through modification of plant densities, selec-tion of improved cultivars and balanced fertilization must be undertaken to optimize pineapple production in Centre Cameroon.

Study on Land Suitability Evaluation in the northern China Crop-pasture Band

Basing on the limiting factor method and Composite Index method,for the northern China crop-pasture band,the authors established the system of evaluation index,and abstracted the dominant factor,then through applying expert grade and weighing way the suitability of grids are evaluated,the results showed that：without the input of a large number of cash,most of the area was not suitable for farming,and more appropriate area for farming was only 8.45% of total area,mainly located in the southeast and southwest of the study area,followed by the study area in the northeast,areas that was not suitable for farming mainly in the middle of the east,large areas of central and western regions.

Research of Comprehensive Evaluation of Agricultural Land Suitability in Typical Area of Huanghuaihai Plain based on GIS

The paper aims to study agricultural land suitability in typical agricultural area in Huanghuaihai plain by the comprehensive evaluation of natural factors and environmental conditions of agricultural land with Liaocheng area in Shangdong Province in the center of Huanghuaihai plain as a case.The results suggested that the land quality in Liaocheng was above the average and accorded with the local practical situation.The authors validated the scientificity of agricultural land suitability study by using GIS technology and proposed some suggestions on analysis results.

Urban Construction Land Suitability Evaluation Based on Improved Multi-criteria Evaluation Based on GIS(MCE-GIS): Case of New Hefei City,China

Urban construction land suitability evaluation （UCLSE） is a complex system engineering and the basis for rational use of the limited urban land resources in China. It has an important practical value on urban construction land use planning and management from the angle of methodology. As a widely used technique, traditional multi-criteria evaluation based on GIS （MCE-GIS）, is not suitable for UCLSE. This study develops an improved MCE-GIS method which could be more suitable for UCLSE based on urban complex ecological system theory and the summary of the shortcomings of traditional MCE-GIS. The improvements include three aspects： a composite evaluation index system rather than natural indexes alone, an index weight calculated by using fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process （AHP） method rather than the common AHP method, and the integrated overlay rule, which includes selecting the minimum value, weighted linear combination （WLC） and simple summation. The main advantage of this improved technique is that it can make UCLSE more comprehensive, more operational and more reasonable. It can provide a scientific basis for decision making in the planning and management of urban construction land use. The improved MCE-GIS system has been adopted in the New Hefei City, Anhui Province, China. Based on the results of UCLSE in New Hefei, three functional areas including construction-appropriate areas, construction-restricted areas and construction-forbidden areas could be worked out, in which 36.90% of the total study area could be developed as urban construction land and the remaining 63.10% should be protected as reserves land or as ecological land. Furthermore, the results can orovide scientific decision suooort for spatial planning and eco-environment nrotection in New Hefei.

Model of Land Suitability Evaluation Based on Computational Intelligence

A novel model of land suitability evaluation is built based on computational intelligence (CI). A fuzzy neural network (FNN) is constructed by the integration of fuzzy logic and artificial neural network (ANN). The structure and process of this network is clear. Fuzzy rules (knowledge) are expressed in the model explicitly, and can be self-adjusted by learning from samples. Genetic algorithm (GA) is employed as the learning algorithm to train the network, and makes the training of the model efficient. This model is a self-learning and self-adaptive system with a rule set revised by training.

Ecological Land Suitability for Arid Region at River Basin Scale:Framework and Application Based on Minmum Cumulative Resistance(MCR) Model

As an important and typical arid inland region in China,Shiyang River Basin plays an important role in maintaining the sustainable development of eco-environment,whose ecological land suitability restricts the development of the local human activities.Therefore,Shiyang River Basin was selected as the case study,the minimum cumulative resistance(MCR)model and GIS technique were integrated to create land suitability evaluation map.We calculated the MCR value of ecological source and living source,and divided the whole basin into five partitions according to the difference between ecological source and living source,and analyzed the patterns and characteristics of the ecological land suitability evaluation(ELSE)regions,respectively.The results showed that:1)The suitable ecological land includes prohibited development region and restricted development region,which accounts for 15.45%and 23.35%of the total land area of the Shiyang River Basin,respectively.These two regions mainly distributed high altitude region in the southern Qilian Mountain and low altitude region where had high density of rivers.2)The protection of ecological land requires not only conserving existing ecological land but also focusing on ecological buffer belts around ecological sources and improving ecological land service ability.3)Ecological networks should be constructed through artificial planting trees around the boundary of oasis and ecological restoration region.Buffer greenbelts should also be established between optimized development region and ecological restoration region.

Land Suitability Evaluation for Agricultural Cropland in Mongolia Using the Spatial MCDM Method and AHP Based GIS

The purpose of this study was to prepare a cropland suitability map of Mongolia based on comprehensive landscape principles, including topography, soil properties, vegetation, climate and socio-economic factors. The primary goal was to create a more accurate map to estimate vegetation criteria (above ground biomass AGB), soil organic matter, soil texture, and the hydrothermal coefficient using Landsat 8 satellite imagery. The analysis used Landsat 8 imagery from the 2016 summer season with a resolution of 30 meters, time series MODIS vegetation products (MOD13, MOD15, MOD17) averaged over 16 days from June to August 2000-2016, an SRTM DEM with a resolution of 30 meters, and a field survey of measured biomass and soil data. In total, 6 main factors were classified and quality evaluation criteria were developed for 17 criteria, each with 5 levels. In this research the spatial MCDM (multi-criteria decision-making) method and AHP based GIS were applied. This was developed for each criteria layer’s value by multiplying parameters for each factor obtained from the pair comparison matrix by the weight addition, and by the suitable evaluation of several criteria factors affecting cropland. General accuracy was 88%, while PLS and RF regressions were 82.3% and 92.8%, respectively.

Physical Land Suitability Assessment for the Large Cardamom Amomum subulatum Roxb.Cultivation in Hills of Kathmandu Valley

Nepal is one of the top three exporters of larger cardamom （Amomum subulatum Roxb.） in the world market contributing largely to the Nepalese economy. Sub-Himalayan range of hilly area of eastern Nepal is popular for large cardamom cultivation. Being similar phytogeographical and ecological setting, cultivation has begun in hills of Kathmandu Valley however land suitability needs to be evaluated with reference to specific need of the crop. Kathmandu is a valley with alluvial bottom and altitudinal range between 1200 and 2730m above sea level having cool to warm temperate climatic range. Varieties of aspects and slope gradient have potentiality for the large cardamom cultivation. Aim of the study was set to categorize available land area in the range of suitability for large cardamon cultivation on the basis of physical characteristics of the land and ecological need of crop. Land evaluation methodology has been designed along with site specific amendment in FAO framework （1976）. Land use map in scale of 1：25 000 was used in geographic information system environment. Suitability was done through map overlaying methods. Aim of the study was set to categorize available land area in the range of suitability categories for large cardamom cultivation based on physical characteristics of the land matching with ecological need of crop. Analysis of data shows that altitudinal range at uplands of Kathmandu Valley and annual average rainfall and temperature are found to be within suitability range for Amomum subulaturn cultivation. Sandy loam soil, slightly acidic in nature with gentle sloping land of about 5-8° provides highly suitable condition. Result showed that more than one-third of total land area above 1800 m of altitude is suitable. Selectively, of the total area, 5% are north facing slope, 13% gentle slopes are highly suitable. 16% lands with north east orientation are moderately suitable. Most of the land areas which are marginaly suitabile for vegetable and cereal crops are highly suitable for large cardamom. Hills of northern boundary hills found to be suitable due to more rainfall distribution pattern compared to southern boundary hills. Therefore, land evaluation also identifies limitations and input requirements for sustainable production.

Assessment of land suitability for oilseeds crops(sesame and groundnut)using geospatial techniques:In the case of Diga district,East Wollega zone,western Ethiopia

Sesame and groundnut crops are the major oilseed crops produced for exports and local consumptions in Ethiopia.This study attempted to evaluate land suitability for oilseeds crops using Geographic Information Systems(GIS)and multi-criteria evaluation in Diga district of East Wollega zone,western Ethiopia.To support the growing population,sesame and groundnut land suitability evaluations were carried out to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production.Different data inputs were used,including mainly climate data(temperature and rainfall),topography data(slope),soil data(soil texture,soil depth and soil drainage),and infrastructure data(road and market).In this study,sesame and groundnut land suitability areas were categorized into 4 classes:highly suitable,moderately suitable,marginally suitable,and not suitable.The result revealed that,about 252.1 ha(0.4%)and 113.1 ha(0.2%)were highly suitable for sesame and groundnut respectively.Result showed that most parts of the study area were moderately suitable for sesame and groundnut productions.Specially,the central and western parts of the study area were highly suitable and moderately suitable for sesame production.The study recommended the local communities to utilize the existing potential of the study area for sesame and groundnut productions.Moreover,decision makers should promote the suitability of the area for both small-and large-scale investment on sesame and groundnut production.

Land Suitability Assessment and Landuse Planning： A Prerequisite for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation

Though Ghana＇s crop yield growth rate was at 17%, 5% of every 1.2 million Ghanaians have insufficient and limited access to nutritious food. Climate change and climate variability have enormously affected the state of agricultural productivity and hence could result in food insecurity. As many ongoing projects use Boolean suitability analysis, land use planning, management recommendations sores, it still remains inadequate to support rural resource poor farmers. This then, is affecting livelihood and agricultural productivity. In this paper, a geostatistical quantitative method to support a geographic information system （GIS） based on multi-criteria decision support system （GMCDSS） for an enhanced land suitability assessment （LSA） and landuse planning （LP） was devised. Project findings indicated that, recommended farm inputs could be estimated and applied accordingly at farm plot levels Soil amendment indicators （e.g., 1.0 t/ha lime ＋ 1.0 t/ha gypsum was estimated for liming） was quantified and currently, farmers can save money in soil fertility management. It has shown that, instead of applying 5.0 t/ha poultry manure （PM） or five bags of N-P-K fertilizer （rate of 15： 15： 15 N-P2O5-K2O/ha） ＋ two bags of sulphate of ammonia （SA）, a farmer may apply 2.0 t/ha PM ＋ two bags 15：15：15 N-P2O5-K2O/ha ＋ one bag of SA. GMCDSS assessment has proved to be fundamental in： （1） urban planning; （2） ensuring food security; （3） poverty reduction and interventions to the effects of climate change and climate variability.

The Application of BP Networks to Land Suitability Evaluation

The back propagation (BP) model of artificial neural networks (ANN) has many good qualities comparing with ordinary methods in land suitability evaluation.Through analyzing ordinary methods’ limitations,some sticking points of BP model used in land evaluation,such as network structure,learning algorithm,etc.,are discussed in detail,The land evaluation of Qionghai city is used as a case study.Fuzzy comprehensive assessment method was also employed in this evaluation for validating and comparing.

Land suitability assessment for post-earthquake reconstruction: A case study of Lushan in Sichuan, China

Land suitability assessment （LSA） is one of the key processes of land-use planning. Given its particularity of land suitability assessment for post-earthquake reconstruction, this paper takes into account geological conditions, risk of disasters, water and land resources conditions, and eco-environmental suitability and emphasizes safety factor in the assessment. Taking the April 20, 2013 Mw 6.6 Lushan earthquake as a case, this assessment establishes factors system, uses GIS spatial analysis techniques and data of geology, topography, resources, and eco-environment to evaluate the land suitability for reconstruction. The results show that： （1） the spatial characteristics of land suitability for reconstruction at grid scale and administrative scale manifest that most of the piedmont plains in the east are suitable for large-scale population aggregation, industrialization, and urbanization development; and （2） for the six hard-hit counties, Mingshan is the preferred region for large-scale post-earthquake reconstruction due to its high construction index and suitable land per capita, and some plots of land in the valleys could be selected for in-situ small-scale reconstruction in Lushan. The land suitability assessment for post-earthquake reconstruction would be significant to making sound reconstruction planning for achieving sustainable regional development in the Mw 6.6 Lushan earthquake stricken area. This study could be used as a reference for the regions with similar events.

Land suitability analysis for maize production using geospatial technologies in the Didessa watershed,Ethiopia

Physical land suitability assessment is a prerequisite for enhancing yield production and enables the agricultural communities to use the right place for the right crops.Maize is one of stable one food crops of Ethiopia and cultivated in three agroecological zones:highland,midland and lowlands.Despite these facts,maize yield is very low due to a lack of knowledge and information gaps on land suitability.Physical land suitability for maize cultivation is essential to minimize the problem of food security.The present study aims to identify the potential land suitability for maize production in the Didessa watershed,Western Ethiopia using Multi-Criteria Evaluation(MCE)and geospatial technologies.Land use land cover(LULC)change,climate,topography,soil,and infrastructure facilities were considered for maize land suitability assessment.The MCE based pairwise comparison matrix was applied to estimate land suitability for maize crop cultivation.The results showed that,about 977.7 km^(2)(14.1%)is highly suitable,4794.9 km^(2)(69.1%)is moderately suitable while 1118.8 km^(2)(16.1%),and 51.5 km^(2)(0.7%)of the study area were categorized under marginally and not suitable for maize production,respectively.This research provides crucial information for decision making organs and the farming community to utilize potential areas for maize cultivation.

Land suitability assessment for apple(Malus domestica)in the Republic of Korea using integrated soil and climate information,MLCM,and AHP

Apples(Malus domestica)are one of the major fruits cultivated in South Korea and worldwide.To both sustain the productivity of apple trees and preserve the land,a land suitability assessment has been conducted.Two methods were used to analyze land suitability,a Most-Limiting Characteristic Method(MLCM)and an Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP)with integrated soil and climate information based on the FAO classification framework.The most-limiting characteristic analysis showed that almost all areas were classified as marginally suitable(S3)or not suitable(N),which together accounted for 94.54%of the land in the Republic of Korea.On the contrary,AHP showed that S1(34.1%)and S2(44.17%)account for the majority of the land.

GIS approach for assessment of land suitability for different land use alternatives in semi arid environment in Jordan:Case study(Al Gadeer Alabyad-Mafraq)

The semi arid lands of Jordan are fragile and severely degraded due to low rainfall and mismanagement of natural resources.As human demands increase,sustaining the productivity of land becomes more and more important.Land suitability evaluation can contribute towards better land management;mitigation of land degradation;and designing land use pattern that prevents environmental problems through segregation of competing land uses.Suitability analysis allows identifying the main limiting factors for the agricultural production and enables decision makers to develop crop managements able to increase the land productivity.The purpose of this study was to develop a Geographic Information System(GIS)based approach for land use suitability assessment in order to assist land managers to identify areas with physical limitations for different land use alternatives based on research criteria developed by FAO and modified by stakeholders.This study was conducted using various data and maps incorporated within(GIS)in order to derive potential suitability for different Land Utilization Types(LUTs).Land suitability mapping was developed using an innovative approach that integrates soil and climatic data for land suitability assessment.Suitability maps for each land use were developed to show the suitability classes and display the spatial representation of soils suitable for agriculture.The output of suitability analyses provided not only the type of land use for which the land was suitable,but also information about the type of limitation(s)facing the utilization of the land.Optimum land use alternatives(scenarios)were formulated to improve and optimize the agricultural production in the study area.

Analysis of the land suitability for paddy fields in Tanzania using a GIS-based analytical hierarchy process

The importance of irrigation development is considered a key factor for food security and poverty reduction because it improves crop productivity,and ensures stable expansion of agricultural production.However,irrigation development requires understanding of the avail-able resources including the suitability of the land for agriculture.In this study,the land suitability for paddy fields was evaluated within the United Republic of Tanzania mainland by integrating the geographic information system(GIS)and analytical hierarchy process(AHP).In this study,11 criteria based on various sources(soil type,soil drainage,soil organic carbon,soil pH,soil depth,elevation,slope,land use,topographic wetness index,temperature,and precipitation)were used.These criteria were used within the GIS-based AHP to identify the most suitable land for sustainable paddy field cultivation considering the preservation of the natural environment of forests and protected areas by examining two scenarios:rainfed condition and irrigation priority.The former ten criteria were assumed to be constant in both scenarios and were assigned the same scores,while the latter criterion(precipitation)was assigned different scores for varying amounts to plan new irrigation projects.Unsuitable land represents 72.8%of the study area,reducing the potential agriculture land(PAL)appropriate for cultivation to 27.2%.In the rainfed condition scenario,the very high and high suitability classes represent 17.6%of the total land of the study area and 64.7%of the PAL.In the irrigation priority scenario,the same classes represent 21.4%of the total land of the study area and 78.6%of the PAL.Finally,the distribution of the land suitability for both scenarios was analyzed within eight administrative irrigation zones to determine the irrigation zone with the greatest potential for paddy field cultivation.

Ecological niche suitability model with an application in Taojiang land use planning

Ecological suitability analysis is an important step in ecological planning. It applies the basis toestablish a sound development planning. In this paper, by applying multi-dimension niche concept, an eco-logical niche suitability (ENS) model was developed. The ENS model, combined with geographical informa-tion system (GIS) and spatial simulation, was used to analyze regional resources and environmental features ,and identify the suitability of regional resource and environment to regional development. An application ofthe ENS model in Taojiang agricultural land use planning is presented.

Land use suitability analysis for town development planning in Nanjing hilly areas: A case study of Tangshan new town, China

Land use suitability analysis plays an important role in sustainable land use and solving environmental problems caused by rapid urban development.A land use suitability mapping approach for town development planning in hilly areas was constructed based on two multi-criteria evaluation methods:Weighted Linear Combination(WLC)and Ordered Weighted Averaging(OWA),to comparatively evaluate and map land use suitability of Tangshan new town in Nanjing,China.Fourteen evaluation factors related to topographic,environmental,socio-economics and historical sites data were used as suitability criteria.The analytic hierarchy process(AHP)method and GIS techniques were integrated into the evaluation models to create the land use suitability map for town development planning.The results of WLC approach showed that 11.4%of the total area is highly suitable while the 48.6%is unsuitable.The results of WLC and OWA approach showed the distribution of degree of land use suitability is almost the same.The areas located at the southern and eastern flat regions are highly suitable for land use,whereas the areas close to the mountain forests,steep slopes,waters,and hot springs,have lower suitability for land use.Sensitivity analysis indicated that the suitability results of the two proposed methods are robust.Indirect validation was achieved by mutual comparison of suitability maps derived from the WLC and OWA methods.It demonstrated that the overall agreement is 90.81%and kappa coefficient is 0.81,indicating that both methods provide very similar spatial suitability distributions.By overlaying the resultant map with the previous master plan map of Tangshan new town,the overlay map once again indicated a satisfactory ecological fit between the two maps.At last,several recommendations are proposed aiming at improving the long-term town development plan for Tangshan new town.

Land development suitability analysis for transport planning evaluation and optimization in mountainous ecological region

Transportation planning is a critical component for creating an orderly,intensive,and sustainable pattern of land development.By comprehensively considering the potential and suitability of transport construction,a comprehensive method combining resources and environmental carrying capacity(RECC)and land development suitability(LDS)was developed by using techniques of GIS,analytic hierarchy process(AHP)and threedimensional magic cube.Taking Aba prefecture in Sichuan Province of Southwest China as a case study,LDS for transportation was analyzed from three aspects,including overall planning layout,different transport modes,and transportation projects.The results showed that the transport planning scales of most counties in Aba were suitable,and the order of LDS of different transport modes was railway>highway=superhighway>tourism track,which already included 42 new transportation projects.We found that two counties(Maoxian County and Jiuzhaigou County)should improve the ecological protection level of transportation,in which the railway network construction should be encouraged,and some transportation projects with low LDS should be postponed or constructed harmlessly.We suggest the combination of RECC and LDS for transportation could enhance the territorial space optimization and sustainable transport construction.