Landfill Site Selection Using Spatial Multiple Criteria Evaluation in ILWIS

Introduction

Using land efficiently and in accordance with the site’s suitability for the intended purposes is a fundamental principle of sustainable development. Site suitability is a function of site conditions and other factors (environmental, socio-economic etc) . Carefully chosen selection criteria can efficiently screen the set of potential sites. Selection criteria focus on the task of choosing an appropriate and, ideally, the best site for a particular land use. This project deals with the use of Spatial Multiple Criteria Evaluation module in ILWIS software, as a decision support tool for identifying the suitable sites for landfill in the City of Ottawa.

Purpose

The goal of this project is to develop a tutorial that gives an overview of how to carryout Spatial Multiple Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) analysis in ILWIS using landfill site selection as practical example.

Methods

About ILWIS

ILWIS is an acronym for the Integrated Land and Water Information System. It is a Geographic Information System (GIS) with Image Processing capabilities. ILWIS has been developed by the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands. ILWIS 3.08.01, the most recent version is open source software and can be downloaded for free from 52 North. As a GIS package, ILWIS allows you to input, manage, analyze and present geo-graphical data. ILWIS uses vector and raster data, but most of the analysis is done in raster. This tutorial gives an overview of the steps required in carrying out SMCE analysis in ILWIS using landfill site selection as practical example.