Lyimo, Neema Nicodemus; Shao, Zhenfeng; Ally, Ally Mgelwa; Twumasi, Nana Yaw Danquah; Altan, Orhan; Sanga, Camilius A
Description:
Besides OpenStreetMap (OSM), there are other local sources, such as open government data
(OGD), that have the potential to enrich the modeling process with decision criteria that uniquely
reflect some local patterns. However, both data are affected by uncertainty issues, which limits
their usability. This work addresses the imprecisions on suitability layers generated from such data.
The proposed method is founded on fuzzy logic theories. The model integrates OGD, OSM data
and remote sensing products and generate reliable landfill suitability results. A comparison analysis
demonstrates that the proposed method generates more accurate, representative and reliable suitability
results than traditional methods. Furthermore, the method has facilitated the introduction of open
government data for suitability studies, whose fusion improved estimations of population distribution
and land-use mapping than solely relying on free remotely sensed images. The proposed method is
applicable for preparing decision maps from open datasets that have undergone similar generalization
procedures as the source of their uncertainty. The study provides evidence for the applicability of
OGD and other related open data initiatives (ODIs) for land-use suitability studies, especially in
developing countries.