RS/GIS, Department of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; Hydrology Division, Ministry of Water Resources, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Murthy, K.S.R., RS/GIS, Department of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; Mamo, A.G., Hydrology Division, Ministry of Water Resources, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The conventional approaches such as ground-based surveys and exploratory drilling for groundwater investigation are time-consuming and uneconomical. Systematic organisation of data of characteristics of any terrain, evaluation of inter-thematic, interclass dependencies and variability, and also analysing cumulative effect on the development of groundwater regime is the best approach which the current decade requires. This is proved by generation of the thematic information on the above factors through remote sensing technique, and integration in geographic information system (GIS) for evaluation using multi-criteria decision-making techniques. This paper presents the results of the attempt made to identify the groundwater potential zones in the Moyale-Teltele Sub basin of the Genale Dawa River Basin in South Ethiopia using the integrated approaches of remote sensing and geographic information systems. Six geologic, physiographic, and hydrologic factors were applied namely: lithology, structure, geomorphology, slope, land cover, and drainage. Weighted Overlay Analysis using multicriteria decision technique is implemented to produce the groundwater potential map of the area. This result is further verified by groundwater yield data of boreholes and springs collected in the field and from previous reports. The validation revealed that the result is in good conformity with the actual yield of the wells and springs. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.
Conventional approach; Cumulative effects; Ethiopia; Exploratory drilling; Ground based; Integrated approach; Land cover; Multi criteria decision making; Multicriteria decision; Overlay analysis; Potential map; Remote sensing techniques; River basins; Subbasins; Thematic information; Decision making; Geographic information systems; Hydrogeology; Information systems; Landforms; Lithology; Remote sensing; Groundwater; decision making; GIS; groundwater; map; multicriteria analysis; remote sensing; Africa; East Africa; Ethiopia; Sub-Saharan Africa