Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zone in Baliguda Block of Kandhamal District, Odisha using Geospatial Technology Approach

Abstract

Assessment of groundwater potential zones is extremely important for protection of water quality and management of groundwater systems. Groundwater Potential Zones (GPZ) are demarcated with the help of geospatial techniques. The parameters, considered for identifying the GPZ such as geology, geomorphology, slope, drainage density, lineament density, rainfall, soil and landuse and land cover (LULC) are generated using satellite data and toposheet. Later, they are integrated with each other applying weighted overlay in ArcGIS. Suitable ranks are assigned for each category of these parameters. For various geomorphic units, weight factors are decided based on their capability to store groundwater. This procedure is repeated for all other layers and resultant layers are reclassified. The groundwater potential zones are classified into three categories like Poor, Good and Excellent. The use of aforesaid methodology is demonstrated in a selected study area in Baliguda block of Kandhamal district in Odisha.