Contribution of GIS to Soil Landscape Mapping by Multi-Criteria Analysis Using Weighting: The Case of the Square Degrees of M’Bahiakro (Centre) and Daloa (Centre-West) in Ivory Coast

As part of the drive to improve coffee and cocoa production in Ivory Coast, studies are carried out to identify soils that are favourable for these crops. It is therefore necessary to orientate soil investigations based on reliable criteria that best discriminate soil cover. With this in mind, this study is being carried out to help improve survey methods by mapping soil landscapes. It uses GIS and weighted multicriteria analysis. To do this, satellite images were processed and the geological map of the square degrees of M’Bahiakro and Daloa was reclassified. The results show that relief is the main factor in soil landscape differentiation, with respective weights of 0.58 and 0.67 for the forest and pre-forest zones. In contrast, the weight of geological formation in soil landscape differentiation remains low (0.05 for the forest zone and 0.07 for the pre-forest zone). The criteria used on the base of aggregation sum methods have made it possible to formulate soil landscape mapping prediction functions according to agro-ecological environments in the humid intertropical zone. This is essential for the orientation of soil survey work. Nevertheless, other comparative methods, such as the coding mapping method, could provide elements for discussion to validate the models.

GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Techniques to Derive Flood Risks Management on Rice Productivity in Gishari Marshland

Floods are phenomenon with significant socio-economic implications mainly for human loss, agriculture, livestock, soil loss and land degradation, for which many researchers try to identify the most appropriate methodologies by analyzing their temporal and spatial development. This study therefore attempts to employ the GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis and analytical hierarchy process techniques to derive the flood risks management on rice productivity in the Gishari Agricultural Marshland in Rwamagana district, Rwanda. Here, six influencing potential factors to flooding, including river slope, soil texture, Land Use Land Cover through Land Sat 8, rainfall, river distance and Digital Elevation Model are considered for the delineation of flood risk zones. Data acquisition like Landsat 8 images, DEM, land use land cover, slope, and soil class in the study area were considered. Results showed that if the DEM is outdated or inaccurate due to changes in the terrain, such as construction, excavation, or erosion, the predicted flood patterns might not reflect the actual water flow. This could result unexpected flood extents and depths, potentially inundating rice fields that were not previously at risk and this, expectedly explained that the increase 1 m in elevation would reduce the rice productivity by 0.17% due to unplanned flood risks in marshland. It was found that the change in rainfall distribution in Gishari agricultural marshland would also decrease the rice productivity by 0.0018%, which is a sign that rainfall is a major factor of flooding in rice scheme. Rainfall distribution plays a crucial role in flooding analysis and can directly impact rice productivity. Oppositely, another causal factor was Land Use Land Cover (LULC), where the Multivariate Logistic Regression Model Analysis findings showed that the increase of one unit in Land Use Land Cover would increase rice productivity by 0.17% of the total rice productivity from the Gishari Agricultural Marshland. Based on findings from these techniques, the Gishari Agricultural Marshlands having steeped land with grassland is classified into five classes of flooding namely very low, low, moderate, high, and very high which include 430%, 361%, 292%, 223%, and 154%. Government of Rwanda and other implementing agencies and major key actors have to contribute on soil and water conservation strategies to reduce the runoff and soil erosion as major contributors of flooding.

Network Analysis Modeling Towards GIS Based on Object-Relation Database

This paper compares the differences between the mathematical model in graph theory and GIS network analysis model. Thus it claims that the GIS network analysis model needs to solve. Then this paper introduces the spatial data management methods in object\|relation database for GIS and discusses its effects on the network analysis model. Finally it puts forward the GIS network analysis model based on the object\|relation database. The structure of the model is introduced in detail and research is done to the internal and external memory data structure of the model. The results show that it performs well in practice.

Assessment of the Direct Sun-Light on Rural Road Network through Solar Radiation Analysis Using GIS

The movement of vehicles on the roads, during summer, can sometimes hide risks involved in direct sunlight. In places where the relief is complicated, road network usually consists of a road complexity. This complexity in conjunction with the motion of a vehicle on a road and the position of the sun at the same time may result in the loss of vision in some sections of the road. This paper describes a GIS-based methodology of the spatiotemporal analysis of this phenomenon. Thus, for a given study area, in this case ofMilos Island,Greece, the geometry of the road network, the terrain morphology and the solar radiation (in specific time intervals during summer) have been analyzed. The result of this procedure is a map illustrating the sections of the road where direct sunlight includes a serious amount of risk for the drivers. Applying this methodology for long periods of time may lead to prevention policies adoption related to accidents of direct exposure to sunlight. Moreover, this methodology could be an additional module in car navigation systems.

Road Network Analysis with GIS and GRASS-GIS:A Probabilistic Approach

In this paper we show how it can be useful to the probability of intersections in the determination of a classification rule for raster conversions in Geographical Information System(GIS)and GRASS GIS for the Road Network Analysis(RNA).We use a geometric probabilities approach for irregular path considering these results for transportation planning operations.We study two particular problems with irregular tessellations,in order to have a situation more realistic respect to map GIS and considering also the maximum value of probability to narrow the range of possible probability values.

Ration Spatial Characteristics Analysis of Soil Loss Based on GIS and RUSLE in Jinzhou City

Supported by RS technology and GIS technology, the amount of soil loss and soil erosion intensity in Jinzhou City in 2010 were quantitatively evaluated by the modified RUSLE model. The characteristics of the spatial distribution of soil loss in Jinzhou City were analyzed. The results showed that the soil erosion area of Jinzhou City in 2010 was 7 284.87 km2, accounting for 70.72% of the total area of Jinzhou City. The average soil erosion modulus was 18.27 t/（hm2＆#183;a）, belonging to mild erosion. Two slope belts of 15＆#176;-25＆#176; and 6＆#176;-15＆#176; were the main soil erosion re-gions in Jinzhou City. Soil erosion in Jinzhou City was mainly concentrated in the rural residential land and the dry land, and the soil erosion amount of these two land types accounted for 60.97%of the total soil erosion amount in Jinzhou City in 2010. It was suggested that the treatment of these two land types should be strengthened and be main treatment object for soil and water conservation in future. The research could provide scientific basis for the governments to make policies about soil loss.

Analysis on Competitiveness of Lingnan Distinctive Architectural Tourist Cultural Sites in Guangdong Province Based on GIS

By using multi-objective analysis method, five architectural tourist sites with Lingnan characteristics were selected. Through the analysis on relevant data obtained by GIS, spatial analysis research had been conducted on competitiveness of Lingnan distinctive architectural tourist cultural sites in Guangdong Province and some conclusions had been obtained.

GIS Analysis of Spatial Distribution of Crop Incidence

Using GIS spatial statistical analysis method, with ArcGIS software as an analysis tool, taking the diseased maize in Hedong District of Linyi City as the study object, the distribution characteristic of the diseased crops this time in spatial location was analyzed. The results showed that the diseased crops mainly dis- tributed along with river tributaries and downstream of main rivers. The correlation between adjacent diseased plots was little, so the infection of pests and diseases were excluded, and the major reason of incidence might be river pollution.

A New Method in Urban Planning Based on GIS Technology——Conservation and Rehabilitation Analysis of Xijin Ferry District in Zhenjiang

In this paper, we identify the geographic information systems (GIS), discuss the components of GIS, which integrates five essential components: hardware, software, data, people, and methods. Present the relations between computer and urban planning, urban planning and GIS. Moreover, the main discussion on a case study that explores the possibility of using ArcView GIS software to assemble, store, manipulate, and analyze historic site- Xinjin ferry district in Zhenjiang.

Risk analysis system of geo-hazard based on GIS technique

The socio-economic attribute of geo-hazard made us distinguish it from the traditional engineering geology study. It will get more social benefit from the analysis of the geo-hazard in the socio-economic attribute. The hazard and the vulnerability of the element controls the risk level of the regional geo-hazard. The risk analysis supported by GIS in geo-hazard study is one of the most important directions. Based on the author’s studies in recent years, a risk analysis system of regional geo-hazard (RiskAnly) has been developed on the basis of software MAPGIS. The paper introduces the train of system design, the structure and the workflow of RiskAnly. As a case study, the paper also deals with the risk zonation of the regional landslide hazard of China.

Prioritization of Semi-Arid Agricultural Watershed Using Morphometric and Principal Component Analysis, Remote Sensing, and GIS Techniques, the Zerqa River Watershed, Northern Jordan

Remote sensing and GIS techniques were employed for prioritization of the Zerqa River watershed. Forty-three 4th order sub-watersheds were prioritized based on morphometric and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), in order to examine the effectiveness of morphometric parameters in watershed prioritization. A comparison has been carried out between the results achieved through applying the two methods of analysis (morphometric and PCA). Afterwards, suitable measures are proposed for soil and water conservation. Topo sheets and ASTER DEM have been employed to demarcate the 43 sub-watersheds, to extract the drainage networks, and to compile the required thematic maps such as slope categories and elevation. LANDSAT 8 image (April-2015) is employed to generate land use/cover maps using ENVI (v 5.1) software. The soil map of the watershed has been digitized using Arc GIS software. Prioritization of the 43 sub-watersheds was performed using ten linear and shape parameters, and three parameters which are highly correlated with components 1 and 2. Subsequently, different sub-watersheds were prioritized by ascribing ranks based on the calculated compound parameters (Cp) using the two approaches. Comparison of the results revealed that prioritization of watersheds based on morphometric analysis is more consistent and serves for better decision making in conservation planning as compared with the PCA approach. The recommended soil conservation measures are prescribed in accordance with the specified priority, in order to avoid undesirable effects on land and environment. Sub-watersheds classified under high priority class are subjected to high erosion risk, thus, creating an urgent need for applying soil and water conservation measures. It is expected that decision makers will pay sufficient attention to the present results/information, activate programs encouraging soil conservation, integrated watershed management, and will continue working on the afforestation of the government-owned sloping lands. Such a viable approach can be applied at different parts of the rainfed highland areas to minimize soil erosion loss, and to increase infiltration and soil moisture in the soil profile, thus, reducing the impact of recurrent droughts and the possibility of flooding hazards.

GIS-Based Public Services Analysis Based on Municipal Election Areas: A Methodological Approach for the City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia

The spatial fairness of public services is a major aspect in offering a healthy and cheerful living environment in a city. The Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has been applied to investigate the spatial distribution of some selected public services over the municipal election areas within Makkah city, Saudi Arabia. These services include education, health, security, religious, commercial, and sports services. The attained results show that except for religious services, other public services are not quantitatively proportional with the population variations in Makkah. It has been found that the third election area posses almost one third of five public services and two thirds of the sport services. That might be attributed to the fact that the third election area possesses almost a quarter of the city population. But, although the first election area has a closer percentage of the total population, it does not include a comparable percentage of public services. On a spatial basis, results of GIS spatial analysis (particularly the Euclidian distance, the mean distance band to a neighbor, the standard distance, the directional distribution ellipse, and the average nearest neighbor ratio tools) have concluded that there is inequity in the services distribution over municipal election areas in Makkah city. Consequently, it is recommended that local planners and decision makers should take the obtained results into consideration to achieve fair and better distribution of public services in the city.

Remote Sensing &GIS Based Spatio-Temporal Change Analysis of Wetland in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Landscape of Dhaka city—one of the fastest growing mega cities in the world, is continuously changing due to un-planned urbanization. For example, the wetlands of the city have been shrinking. This study evaluates wetland changes in Dhaka Metropolitan Area (DMA), Bangladesh, between 1978 and 2009. Spatial and temporal dynamics of wetland changes were quantified using four Landsat images, a supervised classi?cation algorithm and the post-classi?cation change detection technique in GIS environment. Accuracy of the Landsat-derived wetland maps ranged from 87% to 92.5%. The analysis revealed that area of wetland and Rivers & Khals in Dhaka city decreased significantly over the last 30 years by 76.67% and 18.72% respectively. This changing trend of wetlands makes the drainage system of Dhaka City vulnerable, creating water logging problems and their consequences. Land filling and encroachment were recognized to be the main reasons for shrinking of the wetlands in the city. Development and alteration of the existing water bodies should consider the natural hydrological conditions.

Potential landfill site selection for solid waste disposal using GIS and multi-criteria decision analysis(MCDA)

Proper solid waste disposal is an important socioeconomic concern for all developing countries.Municipalities have their own policies,individual approaches and methods to manage the solid wastes.They consider wastelands outside the urban area as the best suitable for the solid waste disposal.Such improper site selection will create morphological changes that lead to environmental hazards in the urban and its surrounding areas.In this research,the site selection for urban solid waste disposal in the Coimbatore district used geographical information system(GIS)and multi-criteria decision analysis(MCDA).Thematic layers of lineament density,landuse/landcover,population density,groundwater depth,drainage density,slope,soil texture,geology and geomorphology were considered as primary criteria and weights for criteria,and sub-criteria were assigned by MCDA analysis.The resultant weight score was validated by consistency ratio so that the efficiency of the selected criteria was justified.The overlay analysis in GIS environment provides 17 potential zones in Coimbatore district,among which,four suitable sites were screened and refined with the help of field investigation and visual interpretation of satellite image.The result of landfill suitability map shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Analysis and assessment of land desertification in Xinjiang based on RS and GIS

The land desertification in Xinjiang was monitored and analyzed based on RS and GIS techniques. Satellite data interpretation was adopted to obtain the general situation of Xinjiang’s land desertification in assistance with the sampling method and on-the-spot investigations. Related monitoring and investigations showed that Xinjiang was facing with severe wide range land desertification, and its desertified area made up 77.08% of the total monitoring area. As for land types, the desertified farmland accounted for 1.92% of the total monitoring area, desertified woodland 4%, desertified grassland 45%, and unused land 49%. Accordingly, as for desertification degrees, non-desertified land occupied 22.92%, weak desertified land 5.69%, medium-degree desertified land 16.58%, severe desertified land 33.19% and super severe desertified land 21.61%. Finally, as for inducing factors, wind-eroded desertification made up 58.23%, water-eroded desertification 8.69%, salinization desertification 6.52% and frozen-melt eroded desertification 3.64%. Xinjiang’s land desertification tended to get worse and the harnessing mission remained hard.

Hazard analysis system of urban post-earthquake fire based on GIS

The authors study the structure, functions and data organization for the hazard analysis system of urban post-earthquake fire on the platform of GIS. A general hazard analysis model of the post-earthquake fire is presented. Taking Shanghai central district as background, a system for hazard analysis of the post-earthquake fire and auxiliary decision-against fire is developed.

GIS-BASED ANALYSIS OF URBAN LAND-USE CHANGES——A Case Study of Haizhu District of Guangzhou City,China

This paper describes a GIS-based sp atial analysis method that combines qualitative analysis and quantita-tive analysis to characterize land-use patterns and predict the trend of future land-use changes in Haizhu Di strict of Guangzhou City,China.Spatial tech nique is introduced to manage land-u se data and derive information of lan d-use changes.Through the case study for t he selected area,it is demonstrated that the method and technique introd uced in the paper can be effectively utilized fo r the analysis of urban land-use chan ges.Based upon this analysis,the paper also pro-vides discussions and recommendati on on urban land-use planning,urban planning and land management.Both l and-use maps of Haizhu District of Guangzhou in 1995and 1997and the remote sensin g images of 1999are utilized in the cu r-rent research.It is convenient to ge t various statistic data and to combi ne attribute data with spatial data s o as to analyze land-use changes in a geographic con text,which is especially suitable f or the need of urban construction dep artment,ur-ban management department and urban planning department.

GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Land Use Resource Planning

Natural resources management is indispensable in ensuring environmental sustainability and reducing the risk associated with climate change and increasing demand for ecological goods and services. Natural resources planners need to have at their disposal tools that can objectively help in prioritizing land use allocation. Traditional application of land use change model based on economic model, trend analysis, and or scenario analysis present some challenges of data availability and reliability necessary for implementation of the models. However, with the advent of information technology, GIS and remote sensing, biophysical data known for having influence on land use allocation can easily be accessed. The current study explores the application of GIS-Multi-criteria analysis in modeling future land use scenarios for resources planning and management using easy to construct biophysical parameters known for influencing future land use allocation. The decision problems in this study are to find the best spatial allocation of land to future agriculture and forest development, which are considered to present critical land use change in the study area. The afforestation scenarios are meant to offset the pressure on the native forest resources due to the increased demand for fuel and timber and also to contribute to the environmental protection and the agricultural land use scenarios are meant to increase productivity and ensure environmental protection. The land use scenarios did not consider “when” in the future the land use pattern may develop. The analyses of scenarios indicate that afforestation extent in the basin can be increased from 4.6% to 42.9% of the total basin area. However, the afforestation extent of 42.9% may be considered unrealistic, since in practice, it may not be possible to realize up to 42.9% afforestation, nevertheless, the spatial pattern of the afforestation may provide crucial insight into spatial afforestation policies and it future consequences. The agricultural land use can increase from 6.2% to 53.7% of the basin area. The agricultural land use expansion can be realised since the expansion of farm land is primarily the main option to achieve food production increase in the near future. The findings indicate potential use of the methodology in land use planning.

Relocation Selection for Poverty Alleviation:Factor Analysis and GIS Modeling

Resettlement is considered a major policy measure in two major Chinese policy programs,the "Great Development of the West" and poverty alleviation in the new century,and the "New Countryside Development".The selection of the target location of resettlement sites for poverty-stricken villages is of critical importance to the success of resettlement projects,yet the selection process is challenged by the need for analyzing a variety of contributing factors,and the need for many rounds of tedious data processing.So in this paper we present an in-depth analysis of the major factors and data processing model concerning mountainous povertystricken villages,which also takes a major part of China's poor villages.Our analysis shows the following factors bear the most importance in resettlement selection:1) topography:candidate areas should have slope less than 25 degrees and altitude less than 2400 meters.2) accessibility:close to market conventions places and transportation facilities.3) farming resources:with abundant land and water resources.4) non-intrusiveness:interests of receiving villages should be considered and negative impact minimized.A simple measure could be having the candidate area 1000 m away from the receiving residents.5) Minimal ecological and political footprint:candidate areas shall not conflict with nature conservation areas or nationally planned key land use projects.6) Social and cultural compatibility:residents will better off if relocated in the same county,considering language,religion,ethnic culture and other factors.Taking Makuadi,Lushui County of Nujiang Prefecture as a case study,we demonstrate how GIS analysis and modeling tools can be used in the selection process of resettlement projects in mountainous areas.

Efficient Tour Planning for Tourist Sites Visitation in Lokoja, Nigeria: A Multi-Scenario Analysis Using GIS

This study used GIS to analyse various visitation sequence and routes for tourist sites in Lokoja considering multiple scenarios. This was done with a view to determining the most efficient visitation sequence vis-à-vis the routes for optimizing the overall visiting time and distance for the various scenarios considered. The main datasets used were the transportation network and the geographic coordinates of the tourist sites. These were collected through a comprehensive field survey of the study area. The ArcGIS 10.1 Network Analyst Extension was the main software used for this analysis. Five scenarios were considered comprising open and closed tours as well as Sequential Ordering Problems (SOP) and non-SOPs. In addition, for the first and second scenarios, an auxiliary scenario was considered that featured a hypothetical road block on an important arterial route. The fifth scenario considered the implication of a hypothetical flooding of some road sections along the bank of the River Niger. Furthermore, for each scenario, there were two optimization solutions: One that optimized the distance covered in visiting all the tourist sites and the other that optimized the time duration required to complete the site visitations. Optimal visitation sequences were determined by the network analyst as part of the solution of the respective scenarios. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to compare the consequences of time savings vis-à-vis distance savings across the various scenarios. In addition to the detailed navigation map produced for each scenario, a comprehensive navigation description guide was derived. The study reveals that scenarios where the site visitation sequence were optimized saved both time and distance markedly compared to scenarios with a predefined site visitation sequence. In all cases, shorter visitation durations were associated with time-optimized scenarios compared to distance-optimized ones while shorter visitation distances were associated with distance-optimized scenarios as compared to time-optimized scenarios. However, the disparities between distance-optimized and time-optimized scenarios were negligible in some cases. Furthermore, the blockage of an important arterial route (including the flooding of a vulnerable road segment) resulted in a striking increase in the optimal distance and time required to visit all the tourist sites in Lokoja. Overall, the shortest cumulative travel time (of approximately 17.69 minutes) and distance (of 15,897.20 meters) were derived from the second scenario.