Application of GIS-Based AHP Model for the Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Lockdown on Environment Quality: The Case of Kabul City, Afghanistan

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the industrial, financial, and social aspects of our daily life due to the implementation of lockdown to protect against the spread of the virus. In addition, the lockdown deduced by COVID-19 has promising positive impacts on air quality and environmental pollution. This study aims to monitor the effects of lockdown on environmental degradation during the pandemic in Kabul city, the capital of Afghanistan, using geospatial data and a statistical model of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). To achieve the purpose of the study, the most essential influencing factors on air quality were generated from different sources using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and GIS environment; Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Moisture Index NDMI) were calculated using Sentinel-2MSI, Carbon Monoxide (CO) was obtained from Sentinel-5P TROPOMI, and land surface temperature was retrieved from MODIS data. The generated thematic layers (before COVID-19, and during a lockdown of COVID-19) were weighted and rated using the AHP analysis. The weighted layers were spatially overlayed to obtain the final output. Consequently, the environmental quality degradation maps before and during COVID-19 were generated to assess the differences over the 22 districts of Kabul city. The findings of the study show that Kabul city is covered by the very low, low, moderate, high, and very high degradation of the environment by 3.17%, 5.33%, 20.54%, 26.63%, 44.32% before COVID-19 in 201,9 respectively, while the percentages are changed to 4.37%, 8.99%. 16.55%, 37.47%, and 32.62% during the lockdown caused by COVID-19 in 2020. The changes in the percentage of environmental degradation in Kabul city particularly in high and very high zones confirm the positive impact of the lockdown of COVID-19.

Assessing the Impacts of Landuse-Landcover (LULC) Dynamics on Groundwater Depletion in Kabul, Afghanistan’s Capital (2000–2022): A Geospatial Technology-Driven Investigation

“…Notably, these land cover changes coincided with a decline in groundwater levels across the city. Over the entire study period , urban areas within Kabul City expanded by a significant 70%, particularly within Districts 5,6,7,11,12,13,15,17,and 22. Furthermore, predictions based on the CA-Markov model, considering the current LULC patterns, suggest a continued expansion of built-up areas over the next two decades.…”

“…Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is located in the east central part of the country, at 69 • 02 ′ -69 • 23 ′ E longitude, 34 • 25 ′ -34 • 36 ′ N latitude, and altitude of 1800 m (6000 feet) above sea level (Figure 1). The city is situated in a triangular valley between the Asamai and Sherdarwaza mountain ranges and is bisected by the Kabul River [11,12]. Kabul city has a total area of 1049 km 2 land area and 396,095 dwelling units and is divided into 22 administrative districts [12,39].…”

“…Kabul has a continental climate, with hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. The average temperature in Kabul is 12.1 • C (53.8 • F), with a high of 40 • C (104 • F) in July and a low of −10 • C (14 • F) in January [11,40].…”

A systematic literature review of applications of geographic information system in COVID-19 studies

“…As for environment change, the effects of lockdown on environmental degradation during the pandemic in Kabul city, the capital of Afghanistan, were also monitored using geospatial data and a statistical model of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (38). A recent study of ( 39) has investigated long-term effects of COVID-19, and its impact on business, employees, and CO2 emissions, using Arc-GIS Survey 123 and Arc-GIS mapping.…”

Evaluation of Urban Sprawl and Land Use/Cover Variation Patterns through Remote Sensing Data: A Case Study in Kabul City, Afghanistan

“…The population of Kabul city has experienced significant growth, surging from 1.5 million in 2001 to approximately 5 million residents in 2017, ranking it as the fifth fastest-growing city globally [22]. Kabul city functions as a central hub for Afghanistan's political, economic, cultural, and administrative activities [23]. Due to rapid urbanization in Kabul city, a significant portion of green spaces has consistently been substituted with impermeable surfaces [2].…”