Fatih Iscan

Selection of MSW landfill site for Konya, Turkey using GIS and multi-criteria evaluation.

Landfill is a common solution for the final disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Turkey. Landfill siting is an extremely difficult task to accomplish because the site selection process depends on different factors and regulations. To ensure that an appropriate site is chosen, a systematic process should be developed and followed. Unsuccessful landfill siting is typically the result of strong public opposition. In this study, candidate sites for an appropriate landfill area in Cumra County of Konya City are determined by using the integration of geographic information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria evaluation (MCE). ArcGIS 9.0 software and its extensions were used as the GIS tool since it is able to perform suitability analysis using MCE analysis. To identify appropriate landfill areas in the Cumra district, eight input map layers including proximity to municipal and local wells and irrigational canals, distance from transportation routes and rails, distance from archaeological sites, distance from urban areas, land use/land cover, and land slope are used in constraint mapping. A final map was generated which identifies regions showing suitability for the location of the landfill site. According to the map, 6.8% of the study area is most suitable, 15.7% is suitable, 10.4% is moderately suitable, 25.8% is poorly suitable, and 41.3% is unsuitable. At the end of the analyses, three candidate sites are determined. The selection of the final MSW landfill site, however, requires further field research.

Fuzzy expert system for land reallocation in land consolidation

One of the most important steps of land consolidation projects is land reallocation studies. In Turkey, reallocation studies carried out in the scope of land consolidation projects are made according to farmer preferences (interviews). In addition to interview-based land reallocation model, mathematical models have been used in the previous optimization studies for reallocation procedure. Recently, fuzzy logic method, which is capable of modeling human mindset and used when other forms of mathematical models cannot be developed, has also been applied to the field of geomatic engineering, as well as in other engineering branches. This study examined the applicability of a fuzzy logic method at the reallocation stage of land consolidation study, where development of an accurate mathematical model was not possible. The results obtained from the fuzzy logic-based land reallocation model were compared with those obtained from the interview-based land reallocation model. Farmers were surveyed to determine which land reallocation model they preferred. The results indicate that 80.5% of the participant landholdings were satisfied with the fuzzy logic-based reallocation land model, while 50% were with the interview-based land reallocation model.