Selection of convenient locations for small ruminant farms by using remote sensing and geographic information system

In this research, it was aimed to determine the optimum lands small ruminant farms in Karaburun, İzmir. For this purpose, first of all, an interrogation model was developed by using remote sensing and the geographic information system. When developing the model, eight different evaluation criteria (distance from settlement areas, distance from water resources like lakes, distance from irrigation and drainage channels, distance from safety area of wind power plant, distance from water basin protection areas, , slope, aspect, and land use class) and three different evaluation classes concerning these criteria as "convenient", "conditionally convenient", and "inconvenient" were envisaged by considering the legal and technical fundamentals on the selection of convenient locations for sheep/goat husbandry farms. Later on, the convenience of the locations of the sample farms in the study area was interrogated by means of the model developed. In the interrogation performed, it was established that the rates of the lands "convenient", "conditionally convenient", and "inconvenient" for carrying out sheep/goat husbandry within the total lands of the study area (42 707.15 ha) were % 3.54, % 2.78, % 93.68 ,respectively and that none of the locations of the sample farms selected were convenient. These results showed that the overwhelming majority of the lands in the study area – particularly the topographical structure – were not convenient for sheep/goat husbandry. In addition, proposals were made for the enhancement of the functionality and use efficiency of such a query model in the selection of locations for animal husbandry farms.