Authors:
Duaij Al-Rukaibi; Waleed Abdullah; Rana Al-Fares; Mohammed Hussain;
Abstract:
Runoff due to seasonal rainstorms has affected several areas in Kuwait. The target in this paper is to identify the existence of sites suitable to accommodate rainwater runoff basins and quantitatively assess their suitability. An approach based on the integration of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Geographical
Information System (GIS) framework was used to develop a Site Suitability Index (SSI) model. The SSI model was structured using two stages of analysis. First stage was the elimination of unsuitable sites to accommodate rainwater runoff basins by the application of five constraints. Remaining sites are then processed in the second
stage, where five different criteria that largely influence the selection process were applied to rank them numerically. The criteria selected were: rainfall, slope, soil type, distance to wadis (dry rivers) and distance to aquifer fields. The SSI model generated a map with scores based on the following site categories: (0-1):
undesirable, (1-2): poor suitability, (2-3): good suitability and (3-4): excellent suitability. The results of SSI model showed that most of the areas of Kuwait are classified as undesirable sites, except for the two areas: Jal Alzor heights and the area close to the northwest borders between Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
(KSA). The outcome of SSI model was tested on three basins at Jal Alzor heights that were identified both visually and by GIS tools. Their numerical assessment ranged between 2.566 and 2.621, indicating good suitability of rainwater runoff.
Keywords:
Rainwater runoff basin, GIS, Analytical hierarchy process, Site suitability index