Abstract
The weighted sum already incorporated into a geographical information system (GIS) makes it possible to identify the best lands useful for sustainable agriculture. However, it does not allow for the inclusion of the decision makers’ preferences so that a choice can be made when there are conflicts between decision makers. Because of their spatial aggregation functions, multicriteria decision analysis methods can facilitate decision making in situations where several solutions are available, various criteria have to be taken into account, and decision makers disagree about one point or another. Combinations between ArcGIS and multicriteria analysis methods in this case Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité (ELECTRE TRI) and a version of the weighted sum method simple additive weighting, applicable to the vector data model, have been established. The parameters and the classification system of Food and Agriculture Organization are used in this work. This approach has been tested on the area of Mleta in Algeria. Land suitability maps for durum wheat have been produced. Through the comparison between results obtained by these two methods and those available in a classical method, based on manual overlay procedures, it appears that optimistic procedure of the ELECTRE TRI method is better suited to the problem of land suitability for agriculture.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdelkawy OR, Ismail HA, Rod JK, Suliman AS (2010) A developed GIS-based land evaluation model for agricultural land suitability assessments in arid and semi arid regions. Res J Agric Biol Sci 6(5):589–599
Chakhar S, Mousseau V (2008) Multicriteria spatial decision support systems. In: Shekhar S, Xiong H (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, New York, pp 753–758
Chrisman N (2002) Exploring geographic information systems, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York
Delli G, Martucci A, Sarfatti P (1996) Land suitability evaluation for winter wheat in Tiaret region (Algeria). In: Mulders MA, Thiombiano L, Escadafal R (eds) Monitoring soils in the environment with remote sensing and GIS. ORSTOM, Paris, pp 531–542
ESRI (2005) ArcGIS 9. Prise en main d'ArcGIS. GIS by ESRI
FAO (1977) Cadre pour l’évaluation des terres. Bulletin Pédologique n°32, 64 p. FAO, Rome
FAO (1989) Evaluation des Terres pour l'Agriculture Irriguée: Directives, Bulletin Pédologique de la FAO, Rome
FAO (2007) Land evaluation. Towards a revised framework. Land and water discussion paper, no. 6. FAO, Rome
Goodchild MF (1987) Towards an enumeration and classification of SIG functions. In: International geographic information systems (ISIG) symposium. The Research Agenda Proceedings, pp.67-77
Jafari S, Zaredar N (2010) Land suitability analysis using multi attribute decision making approach. Int J Environ Sci Dev 1(5):441–445
Malczewski J (1999) GIS and mutlicriteria decision analysis. Wiley, New York, 392 p
Malczewski J (2004) GIS-based land-use suitability analysis: a critical overview. Prog Plan 62:3–65
Maystre LY, Pictet J, Simos J (1994) Méthodes multicritères ELECTRE. Description, conseils pratiques et cas d'application à la gestion environnementale. Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, Lausanne
Mendas A, Errih M, Benahmed Daho SA, Hamadouche MA, Saidi A (2010) Water impoundment location—approach using GIS and multicriteria decision making. Revue Internationale de Géomatique 20(1):87–103
Mendas A, Hamadouche MA, Nechniche H, Djilali A (2007) Elaboration d’un système d’aide à la décision spatiale. - Application à la dangerosité de l’infrastructure routière. J Decis Syst 16(3):369–391
Mousseau V (2003) Mise en œuvre des méthodes Electre: logiciels Electre, cours de DESS Informatique Décisionnelle, LAMSADE, Université Paris Dauphine, 28 pp (Implementation of Electre methods: Electre software, course of DESS decision computer, LAMSADE, University of Paris Dauphine, 28 pp)
Mousseau V, Slowinski R, Zielniewicz P (1999) ELECTRE TRI 2.0a, methodological guide and user’s manual. Document no. 111 of Lamsade
Raju,PLN (2003) Spatial data analysis. Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS Applications in Agricultural Meteorology, 151–157
Reshmidevi TV, Eldho TI, Jana R (2009) A GIS-integrated fuzzy rule-based inference system for land suitability evaluation in agricultural watersheds. Agr Syst 101(1–2):101–109
Roy B, Vincke P (1984) Relational systems of preferences with one or more pseudo-criteria: some news concepts and results. Manag Sci 30(11):1323–1334
SCET-Tunisia/ENHYD-Algéria (2007) Hydro-agricultural improvements study of Mleta–Oran, Algeria
Schärlig A (1996) Pratiquer ELECTRE et Promethee: un complément à décider sur plusieurs critères. Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, Lausanne
Shahram A (2010) Land suitability analysis for wheat using multicriteria evaluation and GIS method. Res J Biol Sci 5(9):601–605
Tomlin CD (1990) Geographical information systems and cartographic modeling. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mendas, A., Delali, A., Khalfallah, M. et al. Improvement of land suitability assessment for agriculture—application in Algeria. Arab J Geosci 7, 435–445 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0860-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0860-2