Delineation of ground water potential zones in a hard Rock Terrain of Bargarh District, Orissa using IRS data

In the present paper, various groundwater potential zones for the assessment of groundwater availability in a hard rock terrain have been delineated with the help of hydrogeological parameters using satellite IRS- 1B-LISS-II digital data. Area selected for this study is a part of Bargarh district, Orissa, India covering an area of about 680 square km. Satellite data has been used to prepare geological-cum-lineaments, geomorphological, landuse and drainage maps. The various thematic maps have been integrated with the help of Geographic Information System to demarcate the poor to excellent groundwater potential zones. Weightage has been given to various groundwater controlling factors to the total groundwater potential in each segment of study area. Subsequently, several sites were selected and pumping tests carded out in the area. The results show that among others, lineaments as well as drainage density are the most important contributory factors in the groundwater potential of various geomorphic units in the area of investigation.     

Groundwater potential in the hard rock terrain of western ghats: A case study from Kottayam district,Kerala using resourcesat (IRS-P6) data and GIS techniques

The present study was aimed to identify and delineate the groundwater potential areas in parts of Western Ghats, Kottayam, covering the upper catchment of Meenachil river. The study area is composed rocks of Archaean age and Charnockite dominated over others. The information on lithology, geomorphology, lineaments, slope and land use/land cover was generated using the Resourcesat (IRS P6 LISS III) data and Survey of India (Sol) toposheets of scale 1:50,000 (surveyed in 1969) and integrated them with raster based Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify the groundwater potential of the study area. Thus, a GIS-based model which takes account of local condition/variations has been developed specifically for mapping groundwater potential. On the basis of hydrogeomorphology, three categories of groundwater potential zones namely good, moderate and poor were identified, and delineated. The high potential zones correspond to the fracture valleys, valley fills, pediments and denudational slope, which coincide with the low slope and high lineaments density areas. The low zone mainly comprise structural hills and escarpments and these act as run-off zones. The derived panchayath-wise groundwater potentiality information could be used for effective identification of suitable locations for extraction of potable water for rural populations.     

Delineation of groundwater potential zone in hard rock terrain of India using remote sensing,geographical information system (GIS) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) techniques

The present study has been undertaken to delineate the groundwater potential zones in the hard rock terrain of Palamu district, Jharkhand using the advanced applications of remote sensing, geographical information systems and analytic hierarchy process techniques. The integration and analyses of various thematic databases viz., geomorphology, lithology, soil, slope, lineament density, weathered zone thickness, drainage density and rainfall proved useful in the delineation of GWP zones. The study indicates that only 136?km² of the study area exhibit excellent groundwater potential, 248?km² has very good groundwater potential, whereas 36.89 and 38.23% are under poor and very poor groundwater potential zones, respectively. Hence, only a total of 11.6% of the area (490?km²) is classified as high to excellent groundwater potential. The final groundwater prospect map obtained was classified as excellent potential, very good potential, good potential, moderate potential, poor potential and very poor potential zone.     

Groundwater resources development in hard rock terrain - an approach using remote sensing and GIS techniques

To demonstrate the capabilities of remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques for groundwater resources development in hard rock terrains, specifically for the demarcation of suitable sites for artificial recharge of groundwater aquifers, a study was carried out in the Kallar Basin, which is located in parts of the Salem and Tiruchirapalli districts, Tamil Nadu, India. Thematic maps defining lithology, lineaments, landforms, landuse, drainage density, thickness of weathered zone, thickness of fractured zone, hydrological soils, and well yield were prepared from data collected by the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) -1C and by conventional methods. All the thematic layers were integrated using a GIS-based model developed specifically for this purpose, enabling a map showing artificial recharge zones to be generated. The exact type of artificial recharge structure, eg, check dam, nallabund, gully plugging and percolation pond, suitable for replenishing groundwater was identified by superposing a drainage network map over an artificial recharge zones map. The GIS-based demarcation of artificial zones developed in the study was based on logical conditions and reasoning, so that the same techniques (with appropriate modifications) could be adopted elsewhere, especially in hard rock terrain, where the occurrence of groundwater is restricted and subject to greater complexity.     

Evaluation of groundwater potential zones in the sub-watersheds of north pennar river basin around Pavagada, Karnataka, India using remote sensing and GIS techniques

The study area is one of the watersheds of North Pennar basin, covering an area of 570 km² in Pavagada taluk of Tumkur district. The watershed has been subdivided into nine sub-watersheds namely Dalavayihalli, Maddalenahalli, Talamaradahalli, Puluvalli tank, Nagalamadike, Gowdatimmanahalli, Naliganahalli, Devadabetta and Byadanur. These nine sub-watersheds have been evaluated to delineate groundwater potential zones based on the characteristics of geomorphic units together with slope, geology, lineaments, borewell data using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. Slope varies from nearly level (0–1%) to very steep (>35%). The different geomorphic units in each sub-watershed consist of denudational hills, residual hills, inselbergs, pediment inselberg complex, pediments, shallow weathered pediplains, moderately weathered pediplains and valley fills. The lineament map for each sub-watershed has been prepared and the trends were analysed with rose diagrams. The analysis of borewell locations and their yield data in association with lineaments at subwatersheds level reveals that the lineaments are acting as a pathway for groundwater movement. The integrated map comprising groundwater potential zones prepared by “Union” function using GIS indicate that valley fills and moderately weathered pediplains are very good to good, shallow weathered pediplains are good to moderate, pediment inselberg complex and pediments are moderate to poor and denudational hills, residual hills and inselbergs are poor to very poor groundwater prospect zones.     

Morphometry using remote sensing and GIS techniques in the sub-basins of Kagna river basin, Gulburga district, Karnataka, India

The study area is a part of Kagna river basin in the Gulburga district of Karnataka, India. It covers an area of 1320 km² and it has been subdivided into 4 sub-basins namely Wadi, Chitapur, Sedam and Kurkunta, which range in area from 184 to 537 km². The drainage pattern of these sub-basins are delineated using Geo-coded FCC bands 2,3,4 of IRS 1C and 1D(LISS III+PAN merged) on 1:50,000 scale and Survey of India toposheets as reference. The morphometric parameters are computed using ArcInfo and ArcView GIS softwares. The drainage pattern of the study area is dendritic to sub-dendritic with stream orders ranging from IV to VII orders. Drainage density ranges from 1.40 to 1.86 km/km² suggesting coarse to moderate drainage texture. The change in values of stream length ratio indicate their late youth stage of geomorphic development. The values of bifurcation ratio ranging from 2.00 to 4.71 indicate that all the sub-basins fall under normal basin category. The values of form factor and circulatory ratio, suggest that the Kurkunta sub-basin is elongated and the remaining sub-basins are more or less circular in shape. Elongation ratio indicates that the Wadi sub-basin is a region of very low relief whereas the other sub-basins are associated with moderate to high relief and steep ground slopes. It is concluded that remote sensing and GIS have been proved to be efficient tools in drainage delineation and updation. In the present study these updated drainages have been used for the morphometric analysis.     

Delineation of potential sites for water harvesting structures using remote sensing and GIS

Availability of groundwater varies spatially and temporally depending upon the terrain. The scarcity of water affects the environmental and developmental activities of an area. Construction of small water harvesting structures across streams/watersheds is gaining momentum in recent years. In the present study, potential sites for construction of rainwater harvesting structures in the Bakhar watershed of Mirzapur District, Uttar Pradesh, India have been identified by using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Various thematic maps such as Landuse/Landcover, geomorphology and lineaments, etc. were prepared using remote sensing. These layers along with geology and drainage were integrated using GIS techniques to derive suitable water harvesting sites. Each theme was assigned a weightage depending on its influence on ground water recharge (for example weightages 20,18,15,25,25 and 0 were assigned to geomorphology, landuse, geology, lineament, drainage and road and villages respectively). Each class or unit in the map was assigned a knowledge based ranking of one to four depending on its significance in storage and transmittance of groundwater, and these values were multiplied with layer weightage to form score. The average score for excellent region is greater than 200, for good 121 to 200, for moderate 81 to 121 and the other polygon having value less than 80 (excluding zero) were assigned to poor category. The final map showing different categories of suitability sites for water harvesting structures such as Check dams, Contour bunding, Recharge pits, Wells and Contour trenching have been suggested.     

Landscape ecological planning in a Basaltic terrain, central India, using Remote sensing and GIS techniques

In the present study, detailed field survey in conjunction with remotely sensed (IRS-1D, LISS-III) data is of immense help in terrain analysis and landscape ecological planning at watershed level. Geomorphologically summit crust, table top summits, isolated mounds. plateau spurs, narrow slopes, plateau side drainage floors, narrow valleys and main valley floor were delineated. The soil depth ranges from extremely shallow in isolated mounds to very deep soils in the lower sectors. Very good, good, moderate, poor and very poor groundwater prospect zones were delineated. By the integrated analysis of slope, geomorphology. soil depth, land use/land cover and groundwater prospect layers in GIS. 29 landscape ecological units were identified. Each landscape ecological unit refers to a natural geographic entity having distinctive properties of slope, geomorphology. soil depth, land use/ land cover and groundwater prospects. The landscape ecological stress zone mapping of the study area has been carried out based on the analysis and reclassification of tandscape ecological units. The units having minimum ecological impact in terms of slope, geomorphology, soil depth and land use/land cover were delineated under very low stress landscape ecological zones. The units having maximum ecological stress in the form of very high slopes, isolated mounds, table top summits and summit crust, extremely shallow soils, waste lands and very poor groundwater prospects were delineated into very high stress landscape ecological zones. The integrated analysis of remotely sensed data and collateral data in GIS environment is of immense help in evaluation of landscape ecological units and landscape ecological stress zones. The delineated landscape ecological stress zones in the watershed have been recommended for landscape ecological planning for better utilization of natural resources without harming the natural geo-ecosystem of the area.     

Delineation of groundwater potential zones using remote sensing and GIS-based data-driven models

The rapid increase in human population has increased the groundwater resources demand for drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes. The main purpose of this study is to produce groundwater potential map (GPM) using weights-of-evidence (WOE) and evidential belief function (EBF) models based on geographic information system in the Azna Plain, Lorestan Province, Iran. A total number of 370 groundwater wells with discharge more than 10 m³s^?1were considered and out of them, 256 (70%) were randomly selected for training purpose, while the remaining114 (30%) were used for validating the model. In next step, the effective factors on the groundwater potential such as altitude, slope aspect, slope angle, curvature, distance from rivers, drainage density, topographic wetness index, fault distance, fault density, lithology and land use were derived from the spatial geodatabases. Subsequently, the GPM was produced using WOE and EBF models. Finally, the validation of the GPMs was carried out using areas under the ROC curve (AUC). Results showed that the GPM prepared using WOE model has the success rate of 73.62%. Similarly, the AUC plot showed 76.21% prediction accuracy for the EBF model which means both the models performed fairly good predication accuracy. The GPMs are useful sources for planners and engineers in water resource management, land use planning and hazard mitigation purpose.     

Hydrogeomorphological mapping in ground water exploration using remotely sensed data — a case study in keonjhar district, orissa

Identification of fractures/lineaments and hydrogeomorphic units is prerequisite for undertaking ground water exploration and development in any terrain. Use of satellite remote sensing techniques coupled with aerial photo-interpretation greatly aid in planning ground water exploration, and pin pointing well sites In this study, airborne and space borne data was used for qualitative evaluation of ground water resources and a critical appraisal of such study in combination with hydrogeological and hydrogeophysical techniques for ground water exploration and development in Keonjhar district of Orissa. The study area has been divided into various geomorphic units based on visual interpretation of Landsat (TM) false colour composite on. 1:2,50,000 scale and the ground water potential of each of the units is qualitatively assessed. Digital image processing techniques such as principal component analysis and brightness index were used for generating classified outputs. The features like valley fills, pediments ete appeared clearly on the classified image. Directional filtering brought out minor fractures/lineaments crisply. The study has revealed the significance of different hydrogeomorptuc units and lineaments in Controlling ground water potential of the area. The findings were corroborated by resalts of drilling and resistivity soundings.     

Land suitability studies for major crops in Pavagada taluk,Karnataka using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Pavagada taluk of Tumkur district in Karnataka is one of the most backward taluks receiving less than 500 mm annual rainfall. The maximum area of the taluk is under monocropping, reasons for the same were not documented well. The present study was carried out using remote sensing data along with field survey and laboratory analysis for assessing the potentials and limitations of soil. Using the basic information on soil, climate and topography based on the matching exercise between the growth and production requirements of the crop, suitability of soils for groundnut, paddy and finger millet was assessed as per FAO land evaluation. The soil suitability maps were prepared using Arc GIS software. About 48 per cent of the total area was moderate to marginally suitable and 13 per cent of the area was not suitable for both groundnut and finger millet. Lowland areas covering 12 per cent of the area was highly suitable, 15 per cent was moderate to marginally suitable and 20 per cent was not suitable for paddy cultivation.     

Morphometric analysis of sub-watersheds in Gurdaspur district, Punjab using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Morphometric analysis of two sub-watersheds was carried using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Detailed drainage map prepared from aerial photographs and SOI toposheets was updated using latest IRS-ID PAN sharpened LISS-III analog data. Updated drainage maps were used for the morphometric analysis of the two sub-watersheds. Both the sub-watersheds show dendritic to sub-dendritic drainage pattern with moderate drainage texture. High bifurcation ratio indicates a strong structural control on the drainage. Logarithm of number of stream vs. stream order show deviation from straight line indicating regional upliftment. In spite of mountainous relief, low drainage density values indicate that the area is underlain by impermeable sub-surface material. Circulatory and elongation ratios show that both the sub-watersheds have elongated shape.     

Integrated remote sensing and GIS study for hydrogeomorphological mapping and delineation of groundwater potential zones in Khallikote block,Ganjam district,Orissa

The present study attempts to delineate different groundwater potential units using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) in Khallikote block of Ganjam disrict, Orissa. Thematic maps of geology, geomorphology, land use and land cover, drainage density, lineament density, slope and DEM (digital elevation model) were prepared using the Landsat Thematic Mapper data in 3 spectral bands, band 7 (mid-infrared light), band 4 (near-infrared light), Band 2 (visible green light). Relationship of each layer to the groundwater regime has been evaluated through detailed analysis of the individual hydrological parameters. The SMCE (Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation) module in ILWIS (Integrated Land and Water Information System) supports the decision-making process for evaluating the ground water potential zones in the area. The study shows that more than 70% of the block is covered by medium to excellent category having good ground water potential.     

Morphometry of the meghadrigedda watershed, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh using GIS and resourcesat data

Resourcesat-I data is to provide continuity in operational remote sensing with its enhanced capabilities in the field of land and water resources management. Using GIS tools and image processing techniques are to identify the morphological features and water resources of the Meghadrigedda watershed. The morphometric parameters such as linear aspects and aerial aspects of six sub-watersheds of the watershed were determined and are computed. The drainage pattern is mainly dendritic type. The six sub-watersheds are elongated in shape. The Meghadrigedda reservoir supplies around 8 million gallon/day of water to the needs of Visakhapatnam city for domestic and industrial purpose. Most of the water tanks of the area have been silted and subjected to unauthorized occupations. Twelve recharge pits were located to excavate silted water tanks. To improve the ground water levels, thirteen suitable sites were identified for the construction of check dams in the Meghadrigedda watershed.     

Landscape analysis in Fambong Lho wildlife sanctuary,East district,Sikkim, India using remote sensing and GIS techniques

The high biological diversity and rich genetic forest resources of the state of Sikkim are to be conserved due to their sensitiveness to environmental degradation through continued human interference. The conservation of bioprospecting zones in natural forests as well as in protected areas is considered important for up keeping genetic resources and their germplasm. Keeping this in view, ‘Fambong Lho’ wildlife sanctuary in East district, Sikkim, has been selected to characterize different communities in the dominant vegetation type of Tropical Broad Leaved Hill Forest and to assess biodiversity controls in respect of different topographical features, such as altitude, slope, and aspects and use these inputs for prioritizing the protected area into different Bioprospective zones for conservation and planning. An altitude above 2000 m, having a slope in the range of 1–5 percent facing south east aspect are the ideal environmental conditions conducive to have high species richness. The analysis of fragmentation indicates that the forests are under stress along the fringes as they are closely associated with the habitations. The biological richness is recorded reasonably within the limits in the core area of the park but further prioritizing of such areas for conservation is necessary in view of impending danger of frequent interaction of human habitation with in the sanctuary for forest resources.     

Landslide susceptibility mapping in a hilly terrain using remote sensing and GIS

Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) are well suited to landslide studies. The aim of this study is to prepare a landslide susceptibility map of a part of Ooty region, Tamil Nadu, India, where landslides are common. The area of the coverage is approximately 10 × 14 km in a hilly region where planting tea, vegetables and cash crops are in practice. Hence, deforestation, formation of new settlements and changing land use practices are always in progress. Land use and land cover maps are prepared from Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS 1C - LISS III) imagery. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was developed using 20 m interval contours, available in the topographic map. Field studies such as local enquiry, land use verification, landslide location identification were carried out. Analysis was carried out with GIS software by assigning rank and weights for each input data. The output shows the possible landslide areas, which are grouped for preparation of landslide susceptibility maps.     

Habitat evaluation for sarus crane in the Keoladeo National Park using IRS LISS III and pan merged data and GIS

The Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, a man-made fresh water wetland carved out of a natural depression on the floodplain of two minor tributaries of the Yamuna-Gambhir and the Banganga is the country’s finest waterfowl habitat. This important wetland was set aside as a bird sanctuary in 1956 and it was elevated to the status of a National Park in 1981. It was also designated a Ramsar site- a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention. This important wetland has distinction of being the only Indian wetland to be included under both the Ramsar and the World Heritage convention. The attempt has been made to evaluate the habitat of Sarus crane in the Keoladeo National Park using satellite data — IRS LISS III and PAN merged product and GIS. Geocoded data of IRS —1C LISS III of 21 March 1999 on 1: 50,000 scale and PAN data of March 17, 1999 were used to generate the vegetation cover type map and open water. The maps showing drainage, human habitations, contours, roads, etc. were prepared using the Survey of India topographical sheets and contour map of park area. Information regarding habitat parameters was collected from the existing literature and field observations. The Sarus crane mainly fed in the wetland on the rhizome ofNymphaea sp.,Scirpus tuberosus andEleocharis plantaginea. As there were changes in their habitat requirements at different seasons, the sighting of Sarus crane in each habitat were recorded along with the time and activity during observation. The most utilized habitat for the entire period of study was moderately wet grassland followed by pools. The pools were used mainly during the summer. The water depth requirement observed was between 30–40 cm and 20–40 cm. The suitability maps for Sarus crane were then generated using all remote sensing based and conventional information using rule based equations in the GIS within the Keoladeo National Park.     

Frequency ratio modelling using geospatial data to predict Kimberlite Clan of rock emplacement zones in Dharwar Craton,India

Kimberlite clan of rocks (KCR) comprising of mantle derived ultrabasic rocks such as Kimberlite and related Lamproites and Lamprophyres,are the primary source of diamond. Locating the KCR is first step in the diamond exploration, which is highly challenging in the field due to (i) very small spatial extent of KCR pipes (ii) high susceptibility of KCR to weathering and alteration on exposure to atmosphere, owing to their ultrabasic composition. Predictive statistical models using the geospatial data are often used to minimize the search and the present work attempts to apply the Frequency Ratio (FR) based predictive model in GIS to prepare KCR potential zone maps based on the relationship between the already explored KCR locations and the factors that favour their emplacement. Wajrakarur Kimberlite Field (WKF) in the Dharawar Craton of India, with more than 30 explored kimberlite pipes is selected as the study area. Geospatial technology has been used to generate thematic maps such as known KCR pipe locations, lineament density, lineament buffer zone, lineament intersection buffer zone, drainage anomaly buffer zone, geomorphology, and classified image showing distribution of mineral such as clay, iron oxide and calcrete, which are surface expression of KCR emplacement from various sources. Landsat 8 OLI satellite data, ASTER DEM were used in preparing the geomorphology, lineament map, and band ratio based mineral classified map. The thematic maps were converted to raster grid of 10 sq. m. FR values for each unit in each thematic map were obtained by correlating the spatial relationship between thematic map and the 25 locations of the 33 “known” KCR locations in WKF used for FR modelling. Cumulative FR value were obtained by carrying out overlay analysis of the thematic maps, which are classified into five classes by Natural Breaking method as (i)Very Low Favourable (VLF), (ii) Low Favourable (LF), (iii)Moderate favourable (MF), (iv)High Favourable (HF), and (v)Very High Favourable (VHF). The model was validated by ground verification at random sites and statistical method. During the ground visit, we observed KCR-like lithology’s at four new sites that have calcrete exposure at limited spatial extent and also some pieces of ultrabasic rocks similar to the explored sites. To ascertain their chemical composition of the samples were plotted in the MgO-K₂O-Al₂O₃ ternary diagram. All the four samples fall in the Kimberlite/Lamproite field confirming them to be KCR. The FR predictive model was also validated statistically. Total 13 locations, including 8 site out of 33 known KCR locations, one newly discovered pipe by GSI and the four locations discovered during this study were used for the validation. Statistical validation shows that 84% of model accuracy is achieved. The study reveals that Lineament Intersection, and circular drainage anomaly in 3rd order streams, lineament density are significant themes in predicting KCR emplacement zones. The study demonstrates the utility of statistical based model such as FR model in predicting the location of KCR emplacement, even with statistically insignificant distribution of KCRs and can be applied elsewhere in the world to locate the KCRs. In the process, we report discovery of four new KCR pipes in the WKF.