Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) for Detecting Groundwater Potential Zones at Wadi Elmilk Area, North Kordofan State, Sudan

Abstract

Remote sensing and GIS technology are great important for use in groundwater potential analysis. The current study has applied techniques to delineate the groundwater potential zones besides improving the allocation of drilled boreholes in order to integrate water resources development and management for Wadi Elmilk, Sodari, North Kordofan state, Sudan. Five thematic layers were prepared they are geology, structure, topography, drainage density and slope, extracted and then classified according to their importance with respect to ground water occurrence and weight are assigned through geographic information system. Landsat 8 ETM+ images and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) were used in this study. The geology of the area is composed of basement complex followed by Nubian Sandstone covered by sand sheets. Mosaic of four landsat images ETM+8 were obtained for the geological features. Drainage and lineaments were studied to recognized groundwater occurrence. The slope amount map was derived from the DEM. In the study area, mainly 5 lineaments density categories have been identified and mapped. Reclassified amount of slope, lineaments density, drainage density account maps and in addition to Rose diagram of the lineament frequency were obtained. The conclusion that the groundwater potential zone in the area is related to deep basement, have certain geologic structure and presence of faults, cracks, joints and lineaments and the two prominent lineament directions: NE from SW are the major structural trends in the central Sudan and is most likely related to the Central African Shear Zone. It is recommended that more detailed studies should be conducted in order to check all the information extracted from remote sensing data and Radar.