Determination of erodible areas using MCDM models in the east of Iran

Abstract

In order to achieve sustainable land management, there is a need to comprehensively investigate the factors affecting soil erosion. If there are critical areas in terms of SE in a watershed, by accurately identifying them, it will be possible and reasonable to control and fight against erosion. This research, used Multi-Criteria Decision Making models include AHP, ANP, and BWM in the GIS environment to determine the erosion prone areas. First, the effective factors on erosion were determined based on the opinions and case studies conducted in the area. In the following, the desired data were obtained from relevant organizations, field observations, and previous datasets. In the next step, questionnaires on the impact of criteria on erosion were sent to experts, and after completing the questionnaires, the relative importance of criteria was obtained in Expert Choses and Supper Decision software's. Next, maps were prepared and combined. Finally, the erosion-susceptibility map of the region was obtained. The results showed that the geological formation factor had the significant effect on the erodibility with a relative importance of 0.23. In the following, the area was classified into five classes in terms of sensitivity to erosion, and the areas with high sensitivity have the largest area. The results of the MADM models used in this research were evaluated using the MPASIC experimental method, which all were suitable, so they are capable of determining erosion-prone areas.