Land suitability evaluation method based on GIS technology

Land suitability evaluation plays an important role in the planning of land use. With the help of GIS technology, the efficiency and the accuracy of land suitability evaluation improve greatly. The paper focuses on: 1) the method of land suitability evaluation based on GIS technology, 2) Enriching the styles of the evaluation results and improving its application value. The study of GIS-based evaluation method, proposed in this paper, includes the following aspects: 1) Collect and collate basic data in research area, 2) Build a graphics and properties database through collecting layer information by using ArcGIS software. 3) Process graphics data to generate DEM in research area, and carry out elevation analysis and slope analysis, 4) Taking agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry as land use goals, establish a land suitability evaluation index, get the weight of each index with AHP and Delphi method and divide land suitability level system. 5) Identify the minimum evaluation unit. 6 )Modeling and calculate the score of minimum evaluation unit, and finally get the land suitability rank of each evaluation unit to the specified purposes. In order to improve application value of the evaluation results, it is necessary to mine spatial data based on the evaluation results and other materials. We get some thematic maps such as arable land potential area, returning farmland to forest area, and returning farmland to pastoral areas. GIS plays an important role in this process. These materials can be used directly to serve land use planning. Multivariate analysis method is the basic method and it is proved to be effect to improve the land suitability evaluation. To get a correct result, it is important to establish index systems and select suitable indicators to divide evaluation units according to spatial scales and regional types. Given the socio-economic property of land-use, it´s necessary to select socio-economic indicators.