Environmental sustainability assessment with emphasis on drought and water resources using multi-criteria artificial neural network technology (case study of Babak city)

In this study, first, by studying the research, criteria and sub-criteria were identified that are effective in terms of environmental sustainability. After the Delphi stages, the criteria of environmental resources and services, environmental health and energy were selected as the most important criteria for assessing environmental sustainability in Babak, then using the neural network model to analyze and evaluate the environmental sustainability of Babak. In this study, drought in Babak city was analyzed with a SPI index of drought during a statistical period of 32 years 1361-1392. This index is specifically for time series six; Twelve and forty-eight months were calculated. The city of Babak has been facing drought during the statistical period of thirty-two years, especially the last seven years, and on an annual scale of six months, most of its droughts are mild to moderate droughts. But in the long-term Myas 48 months, 75% of the droughts were severe and very severe, which shows a high relationship with the quantitative and qualitative decline of groundwater in this area.