Assessment of ecological suitability for phytomelioration on the dried bed of the Aral sea using a multi-criteria decision-making model with entropy weights
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Abstract
In this study, a new EWM-MCDM (Entropy Weight Method – Multi-Criteria Decision-Making) model was developed to identify ecologically suitable areas for afforestation on the dried bed of the Aral Sea. Using the Google Earth Engine platform, seven biophysical indicators derived from Sentinel-2 and ERA5-Land data were analyzed. The results demonstrated that the main limiting factors for vegetation development are soil salinity (24.8%) and wind speed (20.3%). According to the integrated suitability map, 14.2% of the territory was classified as highly suitable and 28.5% as moderately suitable, while 23.5% of the area was identified as unsuitable for planting due to extremely high salinity. This methodology enables digital planning of phytomelioration works in the Aral Sea region and increases the efficiency of resource utilization.
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