Determination of Paragliding Fields with GIS-based Analytic Hierarchy Process

Abstract

Nowadays, people living in the city tend to want to get away from the city. This situation is leading to an ever increasing interest in nature tourism and an orientation to outside sports. One of the most popular nature sports is paragliding. In this study, paragliding fields were automatically determined with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Model criteria were decided with the help of international technical requirements for flying and the expert opinions of an experienced pilot. While international conditions were used for the definition of easy and moderate fields, difficult conditions were defined with the guidance of the experienced paragliding pilot. According to the results of the GIS-based system created, 10 out of the designated target points were randomly visited. The test flight was performed in the field by a professional paragliding pilot with an experienced pilot license. According to the results obtained, 9 fields were determined as flight areas. Consequently, a method has been developed in order to help determine alternative paragliding fields.