Uncertainty in Multi-Criteria Evaluation Techniques When Used for Land Suitability Analysis

Abstract

Uncertainty analysis is rarely considered in the application of predictive models in agriculture, resource planning and land suitability analysis. Uncertainty in modeling land suitability for agricultural production arises from a variety of sources. An important source of error is due to uncertainty in model inputs and parameters, especially in the case of multi-criteria analysis requiring data from physical measurements or expert opinion from regional workshops. The concept, scope and taxonomy of uncertainty analysis are discussed in the context of resource planning and land suitability analysis. The model used for land suitability was derived using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) orig..