Potential maps of prone defense centers in western forest of Ilam-Iran by using analytical hierarchy process (AHP)

Oak forest in west of Iran has been always considered by terrorists. So, site selection with emphasis to passive defense principal is really necessary in this area. This research aimed to site selection of defense installations and determine of suitable areas of its generation in the part of thin forests at Ilam province using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Geographic information system (GIS). By using defense expert opinions, and a literature review eight effective intelligence layer in determining the talented defensive centers (lithology, distance from urban, distance from rural, slope, aspect, elevation, distance from drainage and distance from road) were selected and their maps were digitized in ArcGIS®9.3 environment. Prioritizing factors were done using expert opinions in the Expert Choice (EC2000). The results by priority criteria by pairwise comparison method showed that distance from residential areas (urban and rural area), distance from roads and lithology 0.351, 0.222, 0.160, and 0.109 had the highest effects on defense site selection, respectively. In contrast, elevation (0.021) and distance from the river (0.030) had the lowest effects. Finally, the results showed that Cenozoic geology units, distance from city 10000-15000 m, distance from roads >6000 m, slope percentage (10-20%), eastern aspect, elevation (1000-1500 m), distance from river >3000 and distance from roads 3000-5000 m were the most important factors for presentation of potential maps for building of military centers in the western forest area of Ilam.