GIS-Based AHP-OWA Approach for Locating Suitable Sites for Water Harvesting Dam in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract EN

Selection of a water harvesting dam site involves a complex array of decision criteria that may have conflicting values.

Finding the optimum location requires integration of the capacities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-criteria Decision- Making (MCDM).

In this paper, a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis approach is used to solve this problem.

The approach is based on the extension of Analytical Hierarchy Process using fuzzy quantifiers-guided Ordered Weighted Averaging operators (GIS-based AHP-OWA).

This approach is applied to determine the optimal site of a water harvest dam in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia.

Several factors affect the selection of the best location of the target water harvesting dam such as: slope, landuse, soil type, geology, rainfall, drainage network, distance from the road, and distance from the cities, are used.

The results showed that using a combination of GIS-based AHP–OWA is proper approach for optimal water harvesting site selection, where this approach provides a generic powerful decision-making tool that allows decision-makers to define a decision strategy on a continuum between pessimistic (riskaverse) and optimistic (risk-taking) strategies.