Pedological Criterion Affecting Desertification in Alluvial Fans Using AHP-ELECTRE I Technique (Case Study: Southeast of Rude-Shoor Watershed Area)

Pedological criterion affecting desertification in alluvial fans was investigated, for which the map of units was prepared by crossing maps of land use, geology, slope classes and grid layer created by the extension of ET Geo-Wizards in ArcGIS 10.3. Three indices of salinity, erodibility, and permeability of soil were considered and classified. Weights of criteria and consistency ratio were calculated by the AHP method and ELECTRE I method was used to prioritize the options. After creating the weighted super matrix and calculating the concordance and discordance matrix, the difference between dominance and defeat values were calculated. The results showed that the difference in values obtained from AHP-ELECTRE I technique varied from -15 to 16. The alluvial fans were classified into three classes of I, III, and IV from the viewpoint of pedological criterion affecting desertification by using AHP-ELECTRE I technique. Results showed that 71.99% of the area was in the low desertification potential, while 2.19% and 25.82% were in the high and very high desertification potential, respectively.