PDF Design and Implementation of a GIS Model for Evaluating Iran Ecological Capabilities Sahar Rezaian PhD student (Presenting Author) Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University Iran, Tehran Email: s_rezaian@yahoo.com Seyed Ali Jozi Assistant Professor North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University Email: jozi@harra.ir Ali A. Alesheikh Assistant Professor Faculty of Geomatics Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology Email: alesheikh@kntu.ac.ir Abstract Ecological and potential capability of the land is frequently evaluated to create suitable bases for decision making. Environmental managers and city planners need the results of such assessments to observe the environmental sustainable development. Experiences have shown that the lack of knowledge about land potential capabilities may damage the environment severely. Various procedures have been proposed to determine the ecological and potential capabilities of lands. This paper reviews the current models of environmental capabilities, evaluate them, and propose a new model to overcome the previous shortcomings. The governing factors of the model are first identified. Proper questioners are structured and disseminated to 750 users. The weights of the factors are identified by statistical analysis of the questionnaires and Delphi method that is a branch of phase theory. The model is then introduced to a GIS package to visualize the environmental unit maps. Sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the level of parameter sensitivity on any changes. In order to assess the model, District 22 of Tehran, Capital of Iran, has been chosen. Ecological capability of the area for service and civil development are determined. Restricting factors such as; environmental units along rivers, flood passages, and rough terrain that hinder the areas of being developed for service and civil development usages are properly taken into account. The results showed that the points given to environmental units vary from zero to sixty five. Detail discussion on the results is presented in the paper.