Evaluation of Groundwater Potential by GIS-Based Multicriteria Decision Making as a Spatial Prediction Tool: Case Study in the Tigris River Batman-Hasankeyf Sub-Basin, Turkey

Abstract

The Tigris River Batman-Hasankeyf region sub-basin drainage area is in the Upper Tigris basin and lies between the area where the Batman stream joins the river and the Yanarsu stream flows into the river. Intensive agricultural activities are carried out in this region, and irrigation is generally obtained from groundwater just as it moves away from the riverfront. The study area is a valuable basin for both Turkey and the Middle East. In this study, the effectiveness of the Geographic Information System (GIS)-based multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a spatial prediction tool was utilized in exploring the groundwater potential of the drainage area. In the analysis, eight hydrological and hydrogeological criteria were considered as influencing factors, namely, geomorphology, geology, rainfall, drainage density, slope, lineament density, land use, and soil properties. The weights of these criteria were determined through the AHP method; the Arc GIS 10.2.2 program and its submodules were used. The major findings of the study were that groundwater-potential index values of the basin were derived. Groundwater-potential-zone evaluation of the basin was obtained as follows: very poor (19%), poor (17%), moderate (34%), good (17%), very good (13%); and groundwater potential zone (GWPZ) maps of the sub-basin were created. 2 of 16 model [8]. Most of these methods are based on multivariate statistical techniques [9]. In contrast, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is considered to be a simple, effective, transparent, and reliable technique [10]. The AHP method is easy to identify in a useful way by integrating geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) data. Groundwater parameters such as precipitation, aquifers, land use, and soil type can easily be defined as spatial data in a GIS environment. Thus, the method is very useful for identifying potential groundwater areas and is well-suited for the useful identification of groundwater-potential regions [11][12][13]. AHP is an approach that was developed by Thomas L. Saaty in the early 1980s [14]. It was developed with planned criteria according to a certain stage, evaluating the weights of these criteria, and comparing the criteria with other similar studies [15,16]. It is possible and preferable to determine hydrological and hydrogeological parameters that influence groundwater formation and their effects on groundwater formation and generate potential groundwater maps with GIS-based Multicriteria Decision-Making (MCDM) techniques. GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been extensively used in the field of hydrological and water resources [16,17]. It has gained popularity in the last decade as it provides GIS-based mapping [18].Most current studies [19][20][21][22] widely applied RS-and GIS-based AHP-MCDM techniques for the assessment of Groundwater Potential Zones (GWPZs) with effective results. When these studies were examined, it was found that land use (LU), geomorphology (GM), geology (G), recharge...

Dealing with Water Conflicts: A Comprehensive Review of MCDM Approaches to Manage Freshwater Ecosystem Services

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Mapping Groundwater Potential for Irrigation, by Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing Techniques: A Case Study of District Lower Dir, Pakistan

“…Conventionally, groundwater potential assessment is done by soil moisture modeling and hydrogeological field studies. These techniques are time-intensive and lacking economic feasibility, especially at regional scales [4,18]. Regional hydrogeological attributes, such as depth of weathering, drainage patterns, climate, extent of fractures, geological structures, landform, land cover/land use (LCLU), lithology, primary and secondary porosity, slope, and topography, regulate groundwater recharge [19,20].…”

Geospatial and multi-criteria decision approach of groundwater potential zone identification in Cuma sub-basin, Southern Ethiopia

“…However, the advancement of remote sensing and GIS has made it simpler to locate prospective sites (Mukherjee et al, 2012). Several studies have recently been done to evaluate groundwater potential zones utilizing GIS, and analytical hierarchy method, and a multi-criteria decision approach (Andualem and Demeke, 2019;Çelik, 2019;Chowdhury et al, 2010;Fashae et al, 2014;Jha et al, 2010;Magesh et al, 2012;Solomon and Quiel, 2006;Yeh et al, 2016).…”