Abstract
Mapping of Naturalness Using AHP and GIS, the Case of Karabük, Turkey
Human, physical environment and ecosystems affect and limit each other. When human beings using the environment, physical environment and ecosystem react this situation. Natural environment has increasingly been losing its balance due to various pollutants. Disruption of the natural balance causes environmental problems such as climate change, extinction of vegetation and animal species, water and soil pollution. Good management practices are needed for the protection and development of the protected areas, natural or semi-natural areas, conservation of rich biodiversity and sustainability of natural resources. Basic updatable data is needed in order to prepare management plans. Therefore, it is important to determine the exact planning limits. Map-based limits consistent with the legal and scientific studies should be prepared and gained widespread acceptance. In this study, topographic conditions (slope, aspect, and altitude), type of land cover / vegetation (artificial surfaces, agricultural areas, forest areas, wetlands, and water structures), wildlife (number and location of certain areas, migration routes) were determined. Karabuk city in Turkey was selected as the study area. The questionnaire was conducted in order to determine the level of importance of the criteria. In order to determine the weight for each criterion, the mathematics of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the calculation techniques were used. The summation of all the weights values for each criteria (i.e. multiplying together with scoring factors) was performed using the map calculator in Geographic Information System (GIS) Spatial Analyst. Eventually, naturalness index value was calculated for each pixel. The Naturalness categories were classified in three groups as “Natural”, “Semi-Natural” and “Non-Natural”.
Keywords
Naturalness, Analytic Hierarchical Process, Geographic Information System, Karabuk.
