Journal of Spatial Analysis

     Environment, development and sustainability are the three significant issues of worldwide concern. Environmental vulnerability and assessment of natural and anthropogenic activities impacts represent a comprehensive evaluation approach. The main purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive and novel framework in order to environmental vulnerability assessment using by spatial data and techniques. The method of this research is analytical-descriptive. The basic premise is that the finding of this study can be applied in the local planning system and policy making process of environmental conservation particularly to cope with rapid environmental change. The environmental vulnerability is defined and governed by four factors: hydro-meteorology signatures, environmental attributes, human activities and natural hazard. Based on data availability and vulnerability status of different areas, there is no general rule for selecting how many variables are required to assess the environmental vulnerability. In this study, 18 variables were taken into account and organized into four aforementioned groups.  The process of environmental vulnerability index is proposed to integrate AHP approach, remote sensing indices and GIS techniques. The environmental vulnerability showed distinct spatial distribution in the study area. Furthermore, the distribution of heavy and very heavy vulnerability patterns mainly occur in low and medium lands where the human activities have been developing rapidly and is the nearest region to Urmia lake in the west region.