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Contribution of Spatial Maps in Groundwater Potential Zones using Remote

Sensing and Geographic Information System

Article in International Journal of Environment and Climate Change · June 2022

DOI: 10.9734/ijecc/2022/v12i1030862

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 International Journal of Environment and Climate Change

12(10): 763-774, 2022; Article no.IJECC.87592

ISSN: 2581-8627
(Past name: British Journal of Environment & Climate Change, Past ISSN: 2231–4784)

Contribution of Spatial Maps in Groundwater

Potential Zones using Remote Sensing and
Geographic Information System
Neelam Bunkar a*, R. K. Nema a and M. K. Awasthi a
a
Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya,
Jabalpur, (M.P) - 482004, India.

Authors’ contributions

This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. All authors read and approved the final
manuscript.

Article Information
DOI: 10.9734/IJECC/2022/v12i1030862

Open Peer Review History:

This journal follows the Advanced Open Peer Review policy. Identity of the Reviewers, Editor(s) and additional Reviewers,
peer review comments, different versions of the manuscript, comments of the editors, etc are available here:
https://www.sdiarticle5.com/review-history/87592

Received 12 March 2022

Original Research Article Accepted 26 May 2022
Published 01 June 2022

ABSTRACT
Now a days, surface water resources are becoming insufficient to fulfil the water demand because
utility enhanced as compare to availability. Therefore a systematic planning of groundwater
improvement using modern technique is essential for the proper management and utilization of this
valuable resource. Total annual supply will basically completed by major source that is
groundwater. The manifesto of this paper is to identify the contribution of spatial map and their
methodologies applied for acquiring groundwater potential zones of study area using remote
sensing and GIS. The parameters that are used here for identifying their importance in controlling
groundwater potential zones slope, drainage density, lineament density, geology, geomorphology,
soil texture, land use land cover and rainfall. Vital importance of groundwater potential was to
identification of appropriate locations for extraction of water. The remote sensing and GIS tool have
a significant tool for land and water resource studies. The result demonstrated that integration of
remote sensing and GIS tool with the detail information about the themes and their effect on the
groundwater will assess the groundwater potential of study area.

Keywords: Groundwater; groundwater potential; remote sensing; GIS; slope; drainage density;
lineament density; geology; geomorphology; soil texture; land use land cover and rainfall.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected];

 Bunkar et al.; IJECC, 12(10): 763-774, 2022; Article no.IJECC.87592

1. INTRODUCTION monitoring is its ability to generate information in

spatial and temporal domain, which is very
Groundwater is one of the most important natural important for useful analysis, prediction and
resource of the earth which is required for validation” [3].
drinking, irrigation, industrialization purpose and
economic development. In order to make certain GIS integrates the information from several
sensible use of groundwater its proper sources in such a way that it all has the same
assessment and management is required. scale. Often, GIS must also manipulate the data
Availability of groundwater depends upon because different maps have their different
presence of rock types and their properties (i.e., projections. A projection in the GIS is the method
porosity, permeability, transmissibility and of transferring information from earth’s surface to
storage capacity). Depletion of groundwater a flat piece of paper or computer screen. No
depends upon the development activities of the projection can copy the reality of Earth’s curved
area, continuous failure of rainfall, increasing surface exactly. Different types of projections
demand and overexploitation of ground water. fulfil this task in several ways, but all result in
These problems could be sorted out to some some distortion. GIS takes data from maps that
extent by artificial recharge to the aquifers by were made using different projections and
construction of small water harvesting and combines them so all the information can be
recharge structures across streams. The main displayed using one common projection system.
objective of artificial recharge is to provide Geoinformatics technology have become a
sustainability to ground water by restoring crucial tool in water studies due to their capability
supplies to aquifers depleted due to excessive in developing spatio-temporal information and
draft and to enhance recharge to the aquifers effectiveness in spatial data analysis and
lacking adequate natural recharge both in space prediction.
and time.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
“About 30% of the earth’s freshwater accounts by
0
groundwater, whereas surface water resources The Tons sub-basin lies between 23 57’ 53.98’’
0 0
from lakes and rivers accounts for less than 0.3% and 25 10’ 09.15’’ N latitude and 80 21’ 35.03’’
0
[1]. Demand for fresh water resources is and 82 43’ 25.41’’ E longitudes. It basically
constantly increasing day by day as a result of covers five district of Madhya Pradesh such as
rapid industrialization and population growth. Rewa, Satna, Eastern part of Panna and
Therefore, groundwater extraction has become Northern part of Sidhi and Katni district. It is also
an integral part in many of the water bounded on north and east by Uttar Pradesh
management approaches. state. The geographical area of Tons basin is
12497 sq. km. The map of study area is shown in
Natural retrieval of ground water reservoir is a following Fig.1.
slow process and is often unable to keep pace
with the excessive and continued exploitation of 2.1 Data Product used in the Study
ground water resources in various parts of the
country. This has resulted in declining ground Data Requirement:
water levels and depletion of ground water
resources. Therefore planning and management 1. Toposheet
of groundwater potential zones are necessary for 2. Digital Elevation model (DEM)
future wellness. The groundwater mapping is 3. Satellite data
essential for the exploration of unexploited 4. Rainfall data
ground water potential zones with appropriate 5. Geology map
limitations. 6. Geomorphology map
7. Lineament map
“In water resources studies remote sensing and 8. Soil map
GIS tools have opened new paths. Remote
sensing and GIS provides multi-spectral, multi- Toposheet (1:50000) will be acquired from the
temporal and multi-sensor data of the earth’s Survey of India ʽNaksheʼ portal having URL:
surface for analysis of various objectives such as https://soinakshe.uk.gov.in. Shuttle Radar
groundwater study, management etc.” [2]. “One Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital elevation
of the greatest advantages of using model (DEM) 30m*30m resolution data used for
geoinformatics for hydrological investigations and delineation of watershed, slope, drainage and

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drainage-density of study area. Shuttle Radar be gathered from the website of ʽBhukoshʼ
Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM having a (i.e.Integrated Spatial Data Management Portal).
spatial resolution of 30m*30m will be acquired Soil map will be acquired from Soil Atlas of
from the USGS Earth Explorer. Sentinel 2B Madhya Pradesh generated by National Bureau
imagery with spatial resolution of 10m*10m will of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning
be downloaded from USGS Earth Explorer for (NBSSLUP). Daily rainfall data in gridded format
preparation of land use land cover map. The map (0.25°×0.25°) will be procured from India
containing information about the geology, Meteorological Department (IMD).
geomorphology and lineament of the study will

Fig. 1. Location map of study area

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 Bunkar et al.; IJECC, 12(10): 763-774, 2022; Article no.IJECC.87592

Fig. 2. Flow chart of methodology of preparation of thematic maps

2.2 Methedology remote sensing applications and the storage

format for the imagery can be read and process
Software’s such as ArcGIS® 9.3, Erdas Imagine in many other applications (*.img files).
2014 and also open source software GOOGLE
EARTH in true sense were used for preparation To prepare base map of study area mosaiced
of different spatial maps. ArcGIS® 9.3 software SOI toposheets were used. Outlet point of the
was used for creating map, compiling the basin chosen by using contour and drainage line
geographic information, analyzing mapped available on the topographic map. Outlet point of
information, and discover and share the study area were selected and verified with the
information. This software provided an help of topography map. Using the GIS based
infrastructure for creating maps and collect software ArcGIS® 9.3 (Slope tool in the spatial
geographic information throughout an analysist tool), the slope map of the study area is
organization, across a community, and openly on generated. With the help of the soil information of
the Web. the basin and referring the soil map by National
Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning
ERDAS Imagine 2014 software was used for (NBSS&LUP), Government of India. Soils are
image processing that allows users to process classified as per the soil conservation service soil
both geospatial and other imagery as well as classification system. This information was then
vector data. ERDAS can also handle hyper transferred onto the base map for preparation of
spectral imagery from various sensors. This soil map of study area. Sentinel 2B imagery with
software is integrated within other GIS and spatial resolution of 10m*10m will be used for

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preparation of LULC. SRTM DEM 30m*30m ArcGIS® 9.3 Software. Drainage pattern reflects
resolution data used for preparation of slope and the characteristic of surface as well as
drainage-density of the study area. Geology, subsurface formation. Drainage density (in terms
2
geomorphology and lineament information of the of km/km ) indicates closeness of spacing of
study area will be gathered from the website of channels as well as the nature of surface
ʽBhukoshʼ. Rainfall map was prepared by using material. More the drainage density, higher
daily rainfall data in gridded format (0.25°×0.25°) would be runoff. Thus, the drainage density
were procured from India Meteorological characterizes the runoff in the area or in other
Department (IMD). words, the quantum of relative rainwater that
could have infiltrated. Hence lesser the drainage
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION density, higher is the probability of recharge or
potential groundwater zone.
Eight different thematic maps and their
interpretation discussed regarding groundwater In the present study, since the drainage density
potential of Tons basin which covering five can indirectly indicate the groundwater potential
district of Madhya Pradesh viz. Rewa, Satna, of the area due to its relation to surface runoff
Katni, Panna and Sidhi. and permeability, it was considered as one of the
indicators of groundwater occurrence. Drainage
3.1 Slope density measurements have been made for the
Topographic data information plays the vital role Tons basin. Accordingly classes have been
for the determination of elevation of groundwater assigned ‘very low’ ‘low’ ‘moderate’ ‘high’ and
Table [4]. For the identification of Groundwater ‘very high’ categories. Fig. 4 shows the drainage
potential zones, the slope angle was considered map of the Tons basin.
as an important input as it has considerable
influence in the study area [5]. The slope of study 3.3 Lineament Density map
area has been calculated in percentage based
on SRTM data. The slope map was derived from “Lineaments are structurally controlled linear or
a SRTM data of the study area. Fig. 3 shows the curvilinear feature. It can be identified from the
slope map of Tons basin. The slope of the Tons satellite imagery by their relatively alignments”
basin were varied between 0 to 84 %. As we [6,7]. “Lineaments represent the zones of faulting
know that infiltration and surface water runoff and fracturing resulting in increased secondary
basically depends on the slope. Slope is a vital porosity and permeability. These factors are
factor for assessment of groundwater potential hydro-geologically very important as they provide
zone. Water tends to store in lower topographical the path ways for groundwater movement.
region rather than higher topographical region. If Lineament density of an area can indirectly
there is higher the elevation lesser will be reveal the groundwater potential, since the
groundwater potential as well as groundwater presence of lineaments usually denotes a
recharge and vice versa. Hence it is a suitable permeable zone. Areas with high lineament
indicator of groundwater prospectus suitability. density are good for groundwater potential
Slope category of Tons basin classified in zones” [8]. Lineaments density map of study area
Table 1. has been prepared using krigging interpolation
technique of ArcGIS® 9.3 software. The
3.2 Drainage Density map lineament density map of the study area is
shown in Fig. 5 and it revealed that the lineament
Drainage map was prepared by using DEM data density in the study area range from 0-19
2
acquired form the USGS Earth Explores by using Km/Km .

Table 1. Slope category of Tons Basin

S. No. Slope category Slope percentage

1 Very low 0-12
2 Low 13-23
3 Moderate 24-33
4 High 34-49
5 Very high 50-84

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3.4 Geology map 3.7 Land Use Land Cover Map

Geology map was prepared by using data Land use refers to man’s activities in land,
procured from the Bhuvan at scale of 1:250000. various uses which are carried out on land,
Geology of study area comprised mainly of Rewa whereas land cover denotes the natural
GP, Kaimur GP, Bhander GP, Semi GP and vegetation, water bodies, rock/soil, artificial
Malwa GP. The Semi GP is the oldest class of cover, and others resulted due to land
the Vindhyan SGP. Vindhyans Comprise of sand transformation. The remote sensing data records
stone, shale and limestone. Sand-Stone and the information essentially on land surface from
Shale are hard, compact forming poor aquifers, which the information on land use has to be
Limestone has secondary permeability. Deccan inferred. Identified land use/land cover features
Traps comprises fractured, weathered, vesicular from the satellite imageries of the study area are
and joint units of Basalts makes moderate to water bodies, Agricultural land, Forest (Open
good aquifers, this type units makes most forest, dense forest, evergreen forest), Open
important aquifers of the region. The map of the land, Barren land/wasteland (land with scrub and
Tons basin is shown on Fig. 6. land without scrub), built-up land or habitation
(Private or unplanned land).
3.5 Soil-Texture map
The sentinel 2B satellite image has been used to
Soils are the resultant product of weathering of find out the land use and land cover of study
parent rocks caused by difference in temperature area. The unsupervised classification method
and hydration effect, [9]. Type of soil play an has been used with level of classification. The
important role on the amount of water that can be result of land use land cover of the study area to
resist in the subsurface formation and hence be covered by six different categories such as
influences the groundwater potential zoning and water bodies, built up land, barren/waste land,
groundwater recharging. Rate of infiltration of forest, open land and agricultural land. Result of
water will be mainly affected by the different type analysis is mentioned in Table 2 which depict
of soil texture and rate of hydraulic conductivity that most of the portion of study area 5513.10
2
(HC). Fig. 7 depict the soil texture map of tons km comes under agricultural land. Cultivated
basin. The detail of soil texture categories land are basically very inconvenient that results
identified in the basin as per the scheme of in poor groundwater potential. Basically forest
2
National Bureau of Soil Survey (NBSS) and Land region covers 1863.67 km of study area, which
Use Planning (LUP). may have good potential and recharge capacity
of groundwater. In the same manner water
2
3.6 Geomorphology map bodies covers basically 658.89 km which is very
indicator of groundwater potential zones and
“Evaluation of surface and ground water groundwater recharge capacity [16-19].
resources vitally influences by the geomorphic Groundwater potential is very poor in the
features. The following geomorphological habitation areas because it may be cover by
features such as active flood plain, active quarry, private and unplanned holding; which accounts
2
anthropogenic terrain, highly dissected structural for 328.37 km of study area. Most of the
hills and valleys, low dissected denudational hills habitation or urban settlement covering in city
and valleys, low dissected structural hills and area of Satna and Rewa district. Fig. 9 shows the
valleys, low dissected structural lower plateau, land use land cover map of Tons basin.
moderately dissected denudational hills and
valleys, moderately dissected denudational lower 3.8 Rainfall Map
plateau, moderately dissected structural hills and
valleys, moderately dissected structural lower Rainfall is the major and important water source
plateau, older alluvial plain, pediment Pedi plain in the hydrological cycle and here it’s a most
complex and piedmont slope are identified from dominant influencing factor for the groundwater
the study area. Active valley fill, and buried in the study area. The annual rainfall data is
pediment is good sources of groundwater taken from the Indian Meteorological Department
whereas structural hills, pediment zone and (IMD) for annual rainfall measurement. For the
gullied land are poor recharge zones”. Different present study, the rainfall data of 2019 have
features of geomorphology are shown in been considered
Fig. 8.

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 Bunkar et al.; IJECC, 12(10): 763-774, 2022; Article no.IJECC.87592

Fig. 3. Slope map of study area Fig. 4. Drainage Density map of study area

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Fig. 5. Lineament density of study area Fig. 6. Geology map of study area

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 Bunkar et al.; IJECC, 12(10): 763-774, 2022; Article no.IJECC.87592

Fig. 7. Soil texture map of study area Fig. 8. Geomorphology map of study area

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 Bunkar et al.; IJECC, 12(10): 763-774, 2022; Article no.IJECC.87592

Fig. 9. Land use land cover map of study area Fig. 10. Rainfall map of study area

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 Bunkar et al.; IJECC, 12(10): 763-774, 2022; Article no.IJECC.87592

Table 2. Land use land cover of study area

S. No. Classes Area covered(km2)

1. Water Bodies 654.89
2. Agricultural Land 5513.10
3. Forest 1863.67
4. Open land 2951.51
5. Barren land/Waste land 1169.91
6. Builtup land 328.379

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For procuring information such as any area,
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DISCLAIMER Application of GIS based data driven
evidential belief function model to predict
The products used for this research are groundwater potential zonation. Journal of
commonly and predominantly use products in our Hydrology. 2014;513:283-300.
area of research and country. There is absolutely 7. Nag SK and Kundu A. A delineation of
no conflict of interest between the authors and groundwater potential zone in hard rock
producers of the products because we do not terrain in kashipur block purulia district,
intend to use these products as an avenue for west Bengal, using geospatial techniques.
any litigation but for the advancement of International Journal of Water Resource.
knowledge. Also, the research was not funded by 2016;6:1-7.
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COMPETING INTERESTS Quarterly Journal of GARC. 1998;6:18-22.
9. Kumar SP, Balasundareshwaran A,
Authors have declared that no competing
Kumaraswamy K and Balaselvakumar S.
interests exist.
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© 2022 Bunkar et al.; This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
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provided the original work is properly cited.

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