Using a GIS-based order weight Average (OWA) Methods to Predict Suitable Location for Artificial Recharge of Groundwater
Abstract The purpose of this study is to use the GIS-based analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and order weight average (OWA) to determine suitable locations for the artificial recharge of groundwater (ARG). Therefore, after preparing the fuzzy maps for each parameter, AHP method is used to pari comparison and determine the weight of each parameter. Then, using the OWA-AHP method based on different levels of confidence (different α values ), the weighting is done for each parameter to prepare the final land suitability maps with different risk levels. Also, the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) method is used to predict land suitability classes using input parameters. Then, using the Best subset regression method, the most important effective parameters for ARG are identified. The results of the Fuzzy-AHP method show that 27% of the area (in different parts) has good and very good conditions for ARG. The results of the combined OWA-AHP method show that, in case of low-level risk and no trade-off, more area is in very low class (80 %) while in case of the high level of risk and average trade-off, the highest area is in the very low class (27 %). The results of the ANFIS method show that fuzzy c–means (FCM) and sub-clustering methods have high accuracy to predict suitable places for ARG. The results of the best subset regression method show that slope, lithology, land use, and altitude with the lowest Cp values (5.2) are effective parameters to determine ARG.