Developing a Land Evaluation Model for the Benghazi Region in Northeast Libya using a Geographic Information System and Multi-criteria Analysis

The aimof this paper is to evaluate the suitability of land for barley in the Benghazi region in Northeast Libya. A land evaluation model was constructed using limiting factor method and application of GIS (Weighted Overlay Technique) integrated with multi-criteria analysis (Analytical Hierarchy Process). How the results change when employing different approaches and analytical methods within the weighted overlay technique was explored, i.e., when the number of input layers is increased to 14 suitability layers and each land characteristic is considered as a map layer by itself, as proposed in this study, compared with previous studies where the resultant land suitability map was calculated from just three input layers suitability layer.CROSSTAB module was used to assess the agreement between the two land suitability maps. The overall agreement was about 19%. The obtained results were compared with observed yield; this comparison showed that the land suitability produced by model 2 was more accurate.