Definition of Analytical Hierarchy Process and Its Effect on Environmental Decisions in Engineering for Landfill Siting

Abstract

The AHP technique was expanded by Saaty (1980) and called Analytic Hierarchy Process. It is a usual way of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) since it is based on theoretical authority. It has a great ability to solve complex problems throughout the decision-making process in any domain .This method, which reflects natural behavior and human thinking, authorize the decision maker to present the interaction between different criteria in complex and unstructured situations. The AHP method is employed to recognize the consistency of weightings for each criterion, which it works by constructing a pair-wise comparisons matrix. The aim of this chapter is to examine this method in detail in a tangible example for the field of the environment (landfilling). For obtaining this aim, an important criterion that can influence the environment was considered by using geometric integration in Expert Choice with merging the AHP technique and GIS software.