Journal of Global Resources

Volume 4 (02)
July 2018
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

Page 131-137

17DELINEATION OF GROUNDWATER POTENTIAL ZONE USING WEIGHTED INDEX OVERLAYTECHNIQUE – A CASE STUDY OF ALAND TALUK, KALABURAGI DISTRICT, KARNATAKA
Lopita Pal, 1 Sunil Kumar Singh A.2 and Madha Suresh V.3
1Research Scholar, Department of Geography, University of Madras, Chennai, India
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Central University of Karnataka, Kadaganchi, India
3Professor, Centre for Natural Hazards & Disaster Studies, University of Madras, Chennai, IndiaEmail: lopitaphd2015@gmail.com

1Abstract: Groundwater plays a vital role which constitutes about two third of fresh water resourcesof the world. The groundwater is the major source for all purposes of water requirements in India. It
is to be highlighted that country’s economic development and food security is dependent on
groundwater sources. The groundwater is the dominant factor for drinking water which records that
90 per cent of rural and nearly 30 per cent of urban populations are utilizing the resources in allaspects. The adjacent way is that due to the rapid growth of population, intensive urbanization andindustrial development may tend to deplete the availability of groundwater as well as increase thedemand in the global scenario. The main objective of the study is to identify the groundwater
potential zone in Aland Taluk of Kalaburagi district. This research study was conducted with thesource of satellite images and analyzed using geo-spatial techniques for the in-depth investigationof the objective.
Key words: Groundwater, Urbanization, Geo-spatial, LISS III, ASTER DEM
Introduction Water an essential component to all human beings as well as equally important toboth animals and plants. The existence of life without water is impossible and so the water isconsidered as essential element of life. One of the primary sources of water is accumulated in thereservoirs, lakes, ponds, dams etc. Apart from all other aspects the very important stay of water isground which is called as groundwater. The areas with adaptable scarcity of water due to adequate
rainfall shall be engulfed with potential groundwater for the survival of life. The various purposes like
agriculture and others use groundwater for their needs whereas it may differ from area to area as
per the terrain. The statistical report illustrated that more than 90 per cent of rural population ishighly depend on water whereas adjacently 30 percent urban population depend on groundwater for
drinking water. According to report of NRSA (2008), nearly 60 percent of the total irrigation ispotential in the country. It is evident that the demand for groundwater is inflating due to intensive
growth of population, industries, urbanization and increase in agricultural activities. A geologicalstudy illustrates that the rock was of low porosity and low permeability. The determining factor ofslope gives the flow of water in the particular area whereas the land use highlights the usage ofgroundwater. The geo-informatics plays a primary role in this study to fulfil the targeted objectives.
This can be achieved using satellite images data which are collected spatially and temporally.
Study Area
Aland taluk is present in the northern part of Gulbarga district (Fig 1). Aland is located at 17.57° N
and 76.57° E. It has an average elevation of 480 metres. The town is spread over an area of 8 sq.
km. It is a dry area, with low rainfall. A major number of populations have migrated towards cities
due to lack of water, education and employment. Lack of natural resources and education has given
birth to serious issues as low industrialization and high unemployment respectively in the Taluk. InGulbarga, the southwest monsoon sets in the middle of June and extends till the end of September.
Bulk of the annual rainfall occurs during this season, which constitutes over 75 percent of the131

annual rainfall. Gulbarga district lies in the northern plains of Karnataka and has semi – arid type ofclimate. Dry climate prevails for most part of the year. December is the coldest month with mean
daily maximum and minimum temperatures being 29.5°C & 15° to 10°C respectively. During peaksummer, temperature shoots up to 45°C. Relative humidity varies from 26 percent in summer to 62
percent in winter.
Methodology
The methodology adopted for the study was creating a shape file derived from different inputs suchas topographical sheet, aster data, cadastral maps and LANDSAT images. The generation ofthematic layers such as density, slope, lineament density and geomorphology was done in ageographical platform and conversion of raster format with suitable weightage for the betterment ofresults. As a result of weighted overlay analysis the potential ground water zone map was created.

#1.
2.

Table 01: Dataset Used
Name of Datasets
Product_id
LISS III
IRS-P6LANDSAT TM
Thematic Mapper

Spatial Resolution
23.5 meters
30 meters

The above data sets (table1) are processed in geographical platform such ARCGIS 10.3 andERDAS 2010 for identification of ground water potential zone.
Figure 01: Location of Study area

RESULT AND DISCUSSIONGeomorphology
The geomorphological representation shown in the figure 2a represents a plateau which is intended
deeply with ravines. The figure clearly shows that the southern parts are highly undulating terrain
with sparsely distributed knolls and tors. The prominent hill ranges in the region have an altitude of580 m above mean sea level. The highlighted record is that the ground elevation varies significantly132

from 340m above mean sea level in southeast to 620 m above mean sea level in the north. The
regional slope is towards south and southeast. The geological topography shown in the figure 2bwith Deccan Trap basalts.
Figure: 02 (a)Figure 02: (b)Drainage
The stream order from one to four is clearly classified in the fig 3a, 3b which constitute a basin ofAmarja river. Drainage density is defined as the closeness of spacing of stream channels. It is ameasure of the total length of the stream segment of all orders per unit area. The drainage density
is an inverse function of permeability. The drainage density is classified into five classes whereas
the centre part of the figure illustrates the fine drainage pattern and adjacently western parthighlights the coarse density. As a conclusion it is evident that ground water potential is highly
dominant in the areas of high density due to the factor of infiltration which allows more water torecharge.
Lineament Map
In the context of ground water, lineament is highly important as they control the movement and havesufficient capability for the storage of ground water. The major and minor lineaments show in thefigure 04a were delineated which embrace faults, fracture, cracks, etc. The lineament density map
as shown in the figure 04b was divided in to five class highlights the higher lineament density andrecharge the groundwater. This indirectly increases the ground water potential.
Digital Elevation Model
A three dimensional representation of terrain surface is called as digital elevation
model (DEM)which is often used as a generic term to exhibit the height information without any
further definition about the surface The figure 04c shows the North and North- East part of the
proposed study is highly elevated. The figure 04d, slope plays a vital role in recharge of ground133

water. The areas which have gentle slope may tend to reduced runoff whereas high slope may havetendency to sweep out rapidly results to poor ground water potential.
Figure: 03 (a)Figure: 03 (b)Figure: 04(a)Figure: 04(b)134Figure: 04(c)Figure: 04(d)Weighted Overlay Analysis
Based on the multi-criteria evaluation technique the above identified thematic layer was assignedwith suitable rank and weight
Table 02: Ground Water Potential Scale and Rank
ScaleRank
Very Poor
1Poor
2 to 3Moderate
4 to 5Good
6 to 7
Very Good
8 to 10
Based on the interpolation of above weightage the ground water prospect was processedwith the categorization of three classes namely, high, average and low potential regions. It is to be
noted that the southern and eastern section shows high potential of groundwater due to appropriate
lineament density whereas western and northern section show very low potential due to slope andat last the central portion shows moderate potential of groundwater prospect. The processed result
fig 5.5 so obtained map so obtained was verified with field visit and it was found that the area
showing high groundwater potential have very high yield of ground water.

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Table 03: Weighted Overlay Analysis
Parameter
Geomorphology

Geology
Drainage densityin (km/square km)

Lineament density(km/square km)

Slope(inpercentage)

DEMClass
Denudation Hill
Structural Hill
Water Bodies
Anthropogenic
Basalt
0-1
1-4
4-8
8-13
13-20
0
0-3
3-7
7-11
11-14
0-17
17-66
36-54
54-72
72-89
High elevationLow elevation

Weightage (%)
1553030

515

Figure: 05136

Ground Water Prospect
Moderate
Poor
Good
Very goodModerate
Very poor
Poor
Moderate
Good
Very good
Very Poor
Poor
Moderate
Good
Very good
Very goodGood
Moderate
Poor
Poor
Moderate
HighRank
42
6
9
5
1
2
5
7
9
1
2
58
998
62
1
3
9

Conclusion
This research makes the evident that the application of geo-informatics and remotely sensed
satellite data can be a good methodology for the study of groundwater potential zone. This wasproved in this study through ground truth verification. Integration of remote sensing data and thegeographical information system (GIS) for the exploration of groundwater resources has become abreakthrough in the field of groundwater research, which assists in assessing, monitoring, andconserving groundwater resources. The delineation of groundwater potential zones in Aland Taluk,
Kalaburagi District using remote sensing, GIS and multi criteria techniques is found to be muchefficient to minimize the time, labor and money and thereby enables quick decision-making forsustainable water resources management. Satellite imageries, topographic maps and conventional
data were used to prepare the thematic layers of lithology, lineament density, drainage density andslope. The various thematic layers are assigned proper weightage through multi-criteria techniqueand then integrated in the GIS environment to prepare the groundwater potential zone map of thestudy area. The results of the present study can serve as guidelines for planning future artificial
recharge projects in the study area in order to ensure sustainable groundwater utilization.
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