Sutida Piamviriyawong. Application of geographic information system and participation to identify the limestone resource status for development : Ratchaburi province. Master's Degree(Appropriate Technology for Resources Development). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2006.
Application of geographic information system and participation to identify the limestone resource status for development : Ratchaburi province
Abstract:
The purposes of this research were to study the accuracy of the Geographic Information System
software in identifying potential for development of limestone resources. The GIS was checked for
validity by utilizing public support to gather corresponding data from the field. The first step in the
research was to identify potential environmental impact factors in limestone resource development using
the GIS. The second step was to study the Analytic Hierarchy Process model by applying the pairwise
comparison method with the GIS. The final step was sending local administrators to gather data from the
targeted areas for comparison, in order to promote an appropriate and efficient usage of resources leading
to basic sustainable resource management.
The results of the research encompassed environmental impact factors, questionnaire, data
collection, and data analysis. A comparative importance matrix of the eight factors was created from a
summary of the data and expert opinion. Pairwise comparison matrix was subsequently computed to
reduce the data dimension and to highlight the relative importance of each affecting factor prior to weight
extraction. The highest weight was the type of mineral concession (0.188), next was watershed and water
(0.170), tourism site and heritage (0.152), transportation (0.130), land use (0.107), forest use (0.106), slope
(0.087) and community area (0.061), respectively. The AHP model was applied using GIS processing.
This research showed that the most appropriate areas for development measured 354.58 km2 or
33.52% of the total area. Most of the areas are located at Rangbua sub-district of Jombung district in
Ratchaburi province or in the central area of the Ratchaburi province. And due to the public participation
study by AIC process at Rangbua Sub-district Administrative Organization, the results show that the local
administrator supports limestone resource development in the potential areas to realize actual
development.