Site Suitability Analysis for Solid Waste Disposal in Enugu Urban Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System

Site Suitability Analysis for Solid Waste Disposal in Enugu Urban Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System

Abstract

Identifying solid waste disposal sites and properly managing them is a difficult task for many developing countries. Especially in Enugu City, this is a key issue. The existing site in Enugu urban is not sufficient in its capacity and it is damaging the environment due to its location, and the type of waste dumped, while the surrounding area is being irrigated. Due to the expansion and urbanization developments in Enugu State, it badly needs to develop controlled solid waste dumping site to prevent several contamination problems. This study was conducted first, to assess the existing waste management strategies in Enugu urban; and second, to find out the potential waste disposal sites in Enugu urban, using GIS and Remote Sensing techniques. The objective of this research are (i) to generate a digital elevation model of the study area, (ii) to create land cover classification of Enugu urban,(iii) to develop a GIS model for the suitable sites, The data used are Landsat EMT8+ 30m and higher resolution image 0.15m resolution and SRTM. Remote sensing data, with GIS spatial analysis tools. Accordingly, site suitability maps for each of the factors were developed in a GIS environment. Results indicate that 3 dumping sites were appropriate. This study indicated that the application of Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing techniques are efficient and low cost tools to study and select appropriate dumping site so as to facilitate decision making processes.