Integration of Remote Sensing, GIS and MCDM for Land Capability Classification in Andit Tid Watershed, Ethiopia
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Integration of Remote Sensing, GIS and MCDM for Land Capability Classification in Andit Tid Watershed, Ethiopia Hamere Yohannes1,2 • Teshome Soromessa1 Received: 26 April 2018 / Accepted: 15 January 2019 Ó Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2019
Abstract Land evaluation is the core component of land-use planning process, particularly where resource is limited and degraded, like Ethiopian Highland. Thus, evaluation of land in terms of its capability is important. The aim of land capability is to identify the physical inherent capacity of the land for different uses to avoid further degradation. Relevant data such as soil depth, soil texture, soil drainage, erosion hazard, altitude, slope and slope direction have been utilized for land capability evaluation in Andit Tid watershed. The integration of remote sensed data, geographical information system and multicriteria evaluation approach was used to obtain spatial information of land capability. The result revealed that the largest part of the watershed was occupied by class III 122.44 ha (25.87%) and the smallest part occupied by class VIII 3.6 ha (0.76%), characterized by very steep slope and rocky and used only as natural reserves. Class I, which claimed only few limiting factors, occupied only 7.65 ha (1.62%). The first four classes (I–IV), which have a capability for agricultural purpose, occupied 63%, class V and class VI occupied 119.2 ha (25.19%), capable for grazing, and class VII holds 51.63 ha (10.91%), capable for forestry. The main limiting factors for land capability classification were soil texture, soil depth, soil drainage and slope. As compared to the current land use, with the current land use, most of the lands are used against the capability classification of the land. Keywords Criteria GIS Remote sensing Multicriteria Land capability classes
Introduction Though estimation of an ecosystem resource quantity is obvious, estimation of resource quality and suitability of these resources for range of uses is also very important in order to assure its productivity and sustainability in the future (Rabia and Terribile 2013). Land is one of a principal non-renewable resource, and thus, it needs careful and appropriate use and management; as a result, land
& Hamere Yohannes [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Center for Environmental Science, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2
Natural Resource Management Department, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Debre Berhan University, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia
information about its potential is required to make effective decision (Girma et al. 2015). Land capability is the inherent physical capacity of the land to sustain a range of land uses and management practices in the long term without degradation to resources (Sonter and Lawrie 2007). The land capability approach uses limitation method, which implies comparing land characteristics of a land unit with critical limits of each capability class (van
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