Site Selection of Military-Strategic Centers Based on Physical Geographic Factors (Case Study: West Azarbaijan Province)

Determining a proper location for the deployment of military-strategic centers is one of the most important issues in defense planning; therefore, the appropriate location of these centers can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of these centers in times of crisis and military threats. It is necessary to pay attention to physical geographic factors in locating military centers. Physical geography has played a decisive role in locating and developing of human habitations since long time ago. The natural geographic features of each region can be effective in access, influence zone, risks, and natural resources. Hence, in this article, the authors studied the site selection of military centers in West Azarbaijan province by using Hierarchical Analytic Method (AHP). To do this, they considered eight geographical factors (rainfall, slope, height, distance from the waterway, distance from fault, petrology, distance from landslide and distance from flood prone areas).The results of the AHP method showed that the distance from the landslide and the distance from the flood prone areas were most effective in locating the military centers. Rainfall and petrology had the least effect on site selection.