Abstract
In this study, geographic information system (GIS)-based, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) techniques were used to identify groundwater potential zones to provide insight to decisionmakers and local authorities for present and future planning. Ten different geo-environmental factors, such as slope, topographic wetness index, geomorphology, drainage density, lithology, lineament density, rainfall, soil type, soil thickness, and land-use classes were selected as the decision criteria, and related GIS tools were used for creating, analysing and standardising the layers. The final groundwater potential zones map was delineated, using the weighted linear combination (WLC) aggregation method. The map was spatially classified into very high potential, high potential, moderate potential, low potential, and very low potential. The results showed that 21.5% of the basin area is characterised by high to very high groundwater potential. In comparison, the very low to low groundwater potential occupies 57.15%, and the moderate groundwater potential covers 21.4% of the basin area. Finally, the GWPZs map was investigated to validate the model, using discharges and depth to groundwater data related to 22 wells scattered over the basin. The validation results showed that GWPZs classes strongly overlap with the well discharges and groundwater depth located in the given area.
Highlights
The groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) map of Upper Coruh River Basin (UCRB) obtained from the geographic information system (GIS) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis is acceptable once compared to the depth to groundwater and discharge data of wells located in the study area
This study shows that 77% of the wells used for validation scattered in the UCRB are located in moderate and high potential areas for groundwater
This study revealed that the mean Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) is 7.4 of the high and very high potential classes of GWPZs of UCRB, whereas the mean TWI is 4.8 of the very low and low potential classes of GWPZs of UCRB
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Water is of vital importance to living life and plays an essential role in determining countries’ socio-economic levels. Surface waters (rivers, lakes, etc.) and groundwater constitute the natural, freshwater resources on earth. The changing climatic conditions, increasing human population, and changing land-use conditions, especially growth urbanisation, put increasing pressure on these resources
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