Identification of Groundwater Potential Zones of a Tropical River Basin (Kerala, India) Using Remote Sensing and GIS Tec
- PDF / 991,853 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 21 Downloads / 312 Views
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Identification of Groundwater Potential Zones of a Tropical River Basin (Kerala, India) Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques Preeja K. R. & Sabu Joseph & Jobin Thomas & Vijith H.
Received: 1 June 2009 / Accepted: 24 June 2010 / Published online: 22 February 2011 # Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2011
Abstract The present work accentuated the expediency of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) applications in groundwater studies, especially in the identification of groundwater potential zones in Ithikkara River Basin (IRB), Kerala, India. The information on geology, geomorphology, lineaments, slope and land use/land cover was gathered from Landsat ETM + data and Survey of India (SOI) toposheets of scale 1:50,000 in addition, GIS platform was used for the integration of various themes. The composite map generated was further classified according to the spatial variation of the groundwater potential. Four categories of groundwater potential zones namely poor, moderate, good and very good were identified and delineated. The hydrogeomorphological units like valley fills and alluvial plain and are potential zones for groundwater exploration and development and valley fills associated with lineaments is highly promising area for groundwater extraction. The spatial variation of the potential indicates that groundwater occurrence is controlled by geology, structures, slope and landforms. Preeja K. R. : S. Joseph : J. Thomas (*) Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram 695 581 Kerala, India e-mail: [email protected] Vijith H. CGIST, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram 695 581 Kerala, India
Keywords Groundwater potential . GIS . Hydrogeomorphology . Ithikkara . India
Introduction Groundwater is one of the most valuable natural resources, which supports human health, economic development and ecological diversity. Because of its several inherent qualities (consistent temperature, widespread and continuous availability, excellent natural quality, limited vulnerability, low development cost, drought reliability etc.), it has become an immensely important and dependable source of water supplies in all climatic regions including both urban and rural areas of developed and developing countries (Todd and Mays 2005). The occurrence, origin and movement of groundwater depend mainly on the geologic framework, i.e., lithology, thickness, structures and permeability of aquifers. Groundwater in hard rock aquifers is essentially confined to fractured and/or weathered horizons. Therefore, extensive hydrogeological investigations are often requisite to systematically understand groundwater conditions. The typical objectives of any exploratory groundwater investigations are to locate, delineate and evaluate new sources of groundwater. Geophysical methods are conventionally employed for groundwater prospecting though there are several methodologies to locate and map the occurrence and distribution of groundwater. The advent and develop-
84
ment of new techno
Data Loading...
