Integration of GIS, improved entropy and improved catastrophe methods for evaluating suitable locations for well drilling in arid and semi-arid plains

Abstract

In arid and semi-arid regions, groundwater plays an important role in both local economic and population development. Therefore, the cost effective and rapid assessment of locations that are suitable for well drilling is crucial. In this study, the improved entropy method and the improved catastrophe method, coupled with geographic information system -based multi-criteria decision analysis, were adopted as a potential method for groundwater exploration. Eight criteria were selected, namely, soil type, land use/land cover, elevation, slope, groundwater level, average rainfall, cumulative sand thickness, and distance to surface water bodies. The improved entropy method and improved catastrophe method were used to assign criteria weights, and the map of the groundwater potential zones was then generated using geographic information system -based multi-criteria decision analysis. Finally, 63 actual potentialities corresponding to the drilled boreholes scattered in the study area and the receiver operating characteristics curve were used to validate the accuracy of the generated the groundwater potential zones. The results showed accuracies of 0.808 and 0.811 for the improved entropy method and improved catastrophe method, respectively. Therefore, these methods are suitable for the evaluation of groundwater potential. Additionally, the adoption of criteria removal and single criterion sensitivity analysis showed that cumulative sand thickness, groundwater level, and average rainfall are the most influential parameters in the evaluation model. Therefore, to solve the local groundwater crisis, an increase in rainfall collection and a decrease in groundwater extraction is recommended.