Abstract
Due to rapid urbanization, the development of megacities and metropolises worldwide is creating water scarcity, social-environmental risk, and challenges to the regions where water supply from rivers and alluvial aquifers is insufficient and unstable. Groundwater exploration in fractured bedrock of mountainous regions is thus a crucial issue in the search for substitute water resources. To achieve cost effectiveness on groundwater exploration, the use of comprehensive remote sensing (RS)- and geographic information system (GIS)-based models appears feasible. The required parameters selected and analyzed from the literature depend on the hydrogeological characteristics. This study intends to investigate and improve the proposed parameters and data sources upon those presented in the literature. A total of 17 hydrogeological units of concern was delineated from 105 complex geological formations of the geological sections and main rock types. The other parameters related to groundwater potential were derived from the digital elevation model and Landsat imagery. In addition, 118 drilling cores were inspected and in-situ well yield data from 72 wells were employed to assess the normalized groundwater potential index in the raster-based empirical GIS model with a higher spatial resolution. The results show that the accuracy of the interpretation of groundwater potential sites improved from 48.6% to 84.7%. The three-dimensional (3D) visualization of a thematic map integrated with satellite imagery is useful as a cost-effective approach for assessing groundwater potential.
Highlights
Water resources are indispensable to mankind, society, and countries and have a tremendous impact on people’s livelihood as well as national agriculture, industry, and economy
The results show that the accuracy of the interpretation of groundwater potential sites improved from 48.6% to 84.7%
Results showed that most average well yields of the hydrogeological units (HGUs) belonged to WFSS in the Western Foothills, and HRQS, HRSA, HRSL, BRSP, and TYSC in the Central Range
Summary
Water resources are indispensable to mankind, society, and countries and have a tremendous impact on people’s livelihood as well as national agriculture, industry, and economy. When the water supply from rivers and alluvial aquifers is insufficient and unstable, it is crucial to explore substitute water supply from unexploited areas, such as mountainous regions [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Most mountainous regions are situated in geologically complex terrains (GCTs) with heterogeneous hydrogeological features. Exploration of groundwater potential in such a geological environment is a challenge. The high cost of pointwise exploration of groundwater resources and inconvenience of conducting on-site tasks in remote areas are often noticed in engineering practice
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