Multi-criteria decision making and Dempster-Shafer model-based delineation of groundwater prospect zones from a semi-arid environment.

Hemant Kumar Pandey,Vishal Kumar Singh,Sudhir Kumar Singh

doi:10.1007/s11356-022-19211-0

Abstract

The present study illustrates the delineation of the groundwater potential zones in one of the most critical and drought-affected areas under Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh (India). Hydrological evaluations were carried out using GIS tools and remote sensing data which ultimately yielded several thematic maps, such as lineament density, land use/land cover, drainage density, lithology, slope, geomorphology, topographic wetness index (TWI), DEM, and soil. Thematic layers were assigned relative weightages as per their groundwater potential prospects under multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method through analytical hierarchy process (AHP). To recognize the groundwater potential zone, weighted overlay analysis was also performed. Additionally, for testing of the Dempster-Shafer model, 16 wells in the study area have been selected. Based on the probability of the groundwater occurrence, the belief factor was equated to delineate groundwater potential zones which illustrate five different potential zones. According to the AHP model, the northwest side of the study area is characterized with very high potential zones whereas the northeast and southeast regions constitute medium and low groundwater potential zones respectively. According to the DS model, very high groundwater potential zones constitute 17% and the remaining area falls under low potential. Overall accuracy of the DS model is higher than AHP model.

Highlights

Rainwater is the only source of freshwater and the occurrence of rainfall is seasonal in nature, resulting into mild to severe droughts (Adimalla et al 2018)
The groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) of Mahoba District of Uttar Pradesh, were delineated by an integrated approach using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Dempster Shafer model based on remote sensing and GIS
Several hydrogeological factors of the watersheds, such as geomorphology, drainage density, lineament density, lithology, slope, land use/land cover, soil, altitude and Topographic Wetness Index were used for multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) which was again equated in ArcMap using weighteges generated through the AHP model and Belief, Disbelief, Uncertainty, and Plausibility through DS model

Summary

Introduction

Rainwater is the only source of freshwater and the occurrence of rainfall is seasonal in nature, resulting into mild to severe droughts (Adimalla et al 2018). After preparing the following thematic layers: geomorphology, lithology, land use/land cover, soil type, altitude, slope, drainage density, TWI index and lineament density, class and weight values were calculated for each of these layers based on the actual groundwater well data (training data). The calculated normalized weight for the soil from the comparison matrix is 0.12 and the overall weightages vary from 24 to 48 (Table 4), low weightages indicate less influence in delineation of groundwater zones. Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) is one of the important factors considered to study the groundwater potential zone, it describes the relationship between the diversion of the water accumulated in the site part and the gravity that pushes the water according to the slope. Jaitpur and Panwari blocks of the Mahoba district have high groundwater potential relative to Charkhari and Kabrai blocks

17.54 Very High

Limitations

Findings

Conclusion