Spatiotemporal LULC change impacts on groundwater table in Jhargram, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Groundwater resources are the significant factor for maintaining life. The land use/cover (LULC) change and its effect on the groundwater table would enhanced land use and groundwater management for arid areas. This paper proposes a technique to LULC effects on the groundwater table. LULC extract based on time-series Landsat imagery (1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2013 and 2017) and its effect on the groundwater table. SVM algorithm used for classification of LULC features and its higher accuracy. In the study area, groundwater data (2001–2012) used for groundwater table change analysis. The result showed that 1.03 mbgl (Metres Below Ground Level) groundwater decreased in the study area. Analysis of the time-series climate data (1988–2014) based on the study area shows apex’s for maximum temperature increased between 0.2 and 0.8 °C and 0.3 to 1.5 °C for minimum apexes. At the same time, analysis of historical rainfall data indicated that rainfall decreased by 10 mm, respectively during the years 1988–2014. The classification results showed that the SVM algorithm overall accuracy of 86.67% and the kappa coefficient of 0.82. The relationships among LULC and, climate, groundwater change values showed both positive and negative correlations. This paper highlighted the LULC change effect on the groundwater table change in arid areas.