TITLE:
The Use of AHP within GIS in Selecting Potential Sites for Water Harvesting Sites in the Azraq Basin—Jordan
AUTHORS:
Abdel Rahman Al-shabeeb
KEYWORDS:
AHP, GIS, Water Harvesting, Azraq Basin, Jordan
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.8 No.1,
February
23,
2016
ABSTRACT: The identification of
potential sites for water harvesting is an important step towards maximizing
water availability and land productivity in the arid and semi-arid areas. This
research aimed to select the optimum sites for water harvesting in the Azraq
basin of Jordan through the use of GIS techniques. The Azraq basin is
characterized by flash floods that involve large quantities of runoff. The selection
criteria in this research were based on six parameters identified based on an
extensive literature review. Five experts were then asked to evaluate the
importance of each criterion. The consistency ratio between the experts
opinions was evaluated using the pairwise comparison method and a final weight
was computed for each criterion. A water harvesting suitability map was then
generated following the weighted linear combination (WLC) method. The sites
that are not suitable for water harvesting within the study area were
identified and eliminated following the Boolean method, and final water
harvesting suitability map was generated. Finally, the findings of this
research can be used to assist in the efficient planning of the water resources
management to ensure a sustainable development of the water in Jordan and in
other areas suffering from water shortages.