CS /AR / 2015-17: Identification of groundwater recharge zones in Vaipar basin of Tamilnadu using remote sensing and GIS technique

Abstract

Satellite images are increasingly used to categorize various earth surface features, which may directly or indirectly serve to identify the presence of groundwater. Hydro-geomorphological mapping using remote sensing data has been used quit long time for delineating ground water prospectus zones in many parts of our country. The intricate relationship among the various terrain parameters controlling ground water regime is difficult to evaluate if the terrain features are highly complex. In these circumstances the Geographic Information System (GIS) has emerged as a powerful tool in analysing and quantifying such multivariate aspects of groundwater occurrence. The proposed methodology of study involved various activities such as base map preparation, LULC map preparation, Digitization and image processing using ERDAS, ARCGIS software and interpretation of the outputs. First stage includes development of spatial data base by using survey of India (SOI) topo-sheet and satellite data on a 1: 50000 scale. The parameters sunch as hydro-geomorphology, geology, drainage density, lineament, landuse/lancover, slope and soil controls the Ground Water Recharge potential of a basin. The input parameters Landuse/landcover map and lineament has been prepared using Landsat8 satellite data. Slope map have been obtained using the digital elevation model (DEM) with the help of SRTM data. Soil map of the study area was prepared using NBSS&LUP maps. Likewise various themaptic maps such as lineament density, drainage density, slope, soil, geomorphology and wasteland has been prepared and used in the study. The various thematic layers are assigned proper weightage through MIF technique and then integrated in the GIS environment to prepare the groundwater recharge zones map of the study area. According to the groundwater recharge zones map, Vaippar basin is categorized into four different zones, namely ‘good’, ‘moderate’, ‘poor’, and ‘very poor’.