Identification of potential groundwater locations using geophysical data and fuzzy gamma operator model in Imo, Southeastern Nigeria

Zaidoon T Abdulrazzaq,Okechukwu E Agbasi,Nadia A Aziz,Sunday E Etuk

doi:10.1007/s13201-020-01264-6

Zaidoon T Abdulrazzaq, Okechukwu E Agbasi + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-020-01264-6

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Abstract

Groundwater is among the most important resources of water supply of the worldwide population. The objective of this research is to select the most suitable drilling location of new groundwater wells, with a decision-making tool using geographic information system (GIS). The optimum location was evaluated based on the hydro-geoelectrical parameter derived from vertical electrical sounding (VES) including longitudinal conductance, aquifer thickness, aquifer resistivity, transmissivity, formation factor, and porosity. The analysis of the VES data revealed that the porosity values range from 1.8 to 21%, the formation factor values vary between 0.0355 and 0.14, the transmissivity values range from 3.4 to 6 m2/day, the longitudinal conductance values vary from 3 to 4.6 Ω−1, the aquifer thickness values range from 4.1 to 8.5 m, the aquifer resistivity varies between 0.7 and 40 Ω m. Hydro-geoelectrical data were integrated into GIS to precisely determine the best location for groundwater wells. Fuzzy liner membership was used to standardize the criteria layers; then, these layers were combined using fuzzy gamma overlay to produce the suitability map. The study area was classified into four classes: excluded, low suitability, moderate suitability, and high suitability. It is recommended that this method should be adopted by different governmental agencies involved in water resources management in Nigeria.

Highlights

Water is an essential component in many aspects of human life, availability of a reliable water source is a vital necessity meant for maintainable advance both in domestic and in industrial usage
The input layers have been used to assess the outcomes from the integration between geographic information system (GIS) and hydro-geophysical parameters
This study demonstrated the capabilities of GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) in suitability analysis to choose suitable sites to drill new groundwater wells in Southeastern Nigeria

Summary

Introduction

Water is an essential component in many aspects of human life, availability of a reliable water source is a vital necessity meant for maintainable advance both in domestic and in industrial usage. The possibility of developing a plan for selecting ideal drilling sites depends mainly on specific criteria that reflect the quality and quantity of groundwater that can be extracted from the aquifer. In this context, the geoelectrical measurements are applied to determine the thickness, depth of aquifer, and estimating its water quality and other criteria can be calculated from these measurements. The geoelectrical measurements are applied to determine the thickness, depth of aquifer, and estimating its water quality and other criteria can be calculated from these measurements These criteria can be combined using multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) to identify a suitable location. Groundwater flow in broken aquifers is very difficult, and accuracy in estimating the hydraulic parameters depends, in particular, on the hydraulic activity of fractures, which is location specific (Laouini et al 2017), the electrical resistivity of the rock and minerals and includes fluids (Lowrie 1997)

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