Developing a Land Suitability Index for Agricultural uses in Dry Lands from Geologic Point of View Using GIS - a Case Study from Jordan

Abstract

In the context of the study, a Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) in GIS was used in developing suitability index to optimize suitable lands for agricultural uses and seasonal farming in dry lands from geologic point of view. This study was performed in the areas between Mafraq and Zarqa Cities in Jordan which are classified as arid lands. The study aims at protecting groundwater from pollution, reducing soil salting, reducing irrigation water loss caused by evaporation, and increasing crop productivity. The geo-environmental parameters of the named area including geology, groundwater depths, soil depths and textures, climatic conditions, topographic settings, and groundwater vulnerability conditions were mapped and converted into layers with special rates, given weights, and then modeled using the multi criteria evaluation (MCE) option, using Decision Making Modeling in IDRISI (GIS software) to reach at the best choice of lands for agricultural activities, and also to determine which of these lands are suitable for summer farming and which are suitable for winter farming.

Detecting Land Use/Cover Dynamics and Land Suitability Mapping for Irbid Governorate Using an Integrated Approach

“…Mapping agricultural suitability is very useful for locating and ranking areas expected to be high or less suitable, practically in an arid land (Abd El-Kawy et al, 2010;ElSheik et al, 2010;AlFarajat et al, 2015). The index was prepared based on the merging of hydro-geo-environmental parameters including; rainfall, slope percentage, soil types, groundwater quality, and depth records (Mazahreh et al, 2018;Al Farajat et al, 2015), modeling these maps resulting in creating the final agricultural suitability map for the targeted area.…”