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This study presents an integrated approach for the identification of groundwater occurrences in shallow fracture zone SFZ aquifers using remote-sensing, geological, and geophysical data. The Central Eastern Desert of Egypt was selected as a test site for the present study. The distribution of major faults and shear zones was extracted from a fusion...
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... transmissive properties of the crystalline rocks dominating in the study area are depen- dent on the presence of fracture zones to provide porosity and permeability. ( Figure 4). On these images, faults and shear zones appear as linear lithologic and structural discontinuities of limited (faults) or significant width (shear zone). ...
Context 2
... locations on the Red Sea shoreline are recognized by patches of mangroves and the total absence of coral reefs. These features were registered in the study area at Um Huwitat, Sharm Al Bahary, and Sharm Al Qibli, where they are located at the NE faults and groundwater discharge to the Red Sea (Figure 4). Some of the NE faults are sealed by either the reactivated and newly developed N-W faults or the subsided sedimentary basins in the extensional half-grabens along the Red Sea coastal plain, where groundwater accumulates to form the most promising traps. ...
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Groundwater is considered the major portion of the world’s freshwater resources. One of the main challenges facing the sustainable development of Egypt is the need for better management of its limited fresh water resources. Groundwater exists in the Nile Valley, Nile Delta, Western Desert Oases, and Sinai Peninsula. Hydrogeological mapping of groun...
Citations
... The identification of groundwater prospecting zones is primarily based on the integration of multiple criteria, including topography, stream networks, slope steepness, lithology, and the frequency of lineaments, as suggested by some researchers. To evaluate these criteria simultaneously, the widely used method of multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) is commonly employed [3,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. The outcomes of this approach provide compelling evidence regarding the condition of the aquifer [28]. ...
... Infiltration of surface water, runoff, and recharging of aquifers are all affected by how porous and permeable sediments are. Based on the geological map of Egypt (UNESCO, 2005) and a Landsat 8 image, the lithology of Wadi Qena Basin was classified into four groups based on their relative infiltration tests and some previous studies by [27,40,69,70] on similar rock units include, basement rocks, Nile deposits, Pliocene-Pleistocene and Wadi deposits, which are assigned the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Number 1 shows low infiltration and high runoff, while number 4 shows high infiltration, which is what the Wadi deposits show (Figure 4a). ...
... A DEM was used to make a slope map of Wadi Qena Basin, and the slope layer was divided into five groups (Figure 4c). These groups are nearly level (0-4), gently sloping (4-10), moderately sloping (10-18), steep (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and very steep or strongly steep . The almost flat to gently sloping land is good for groundwater recharge. ...
In arid and hyper-arid areas, groundwater is a precious and rare resource. The need for water supply has grown over the past few decades as a result of population growth, urbanization, and agricultural endeavors. This research aims to locate groundwater recharge potential zones (GWPZs) using multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) in the Wadi Qena Basin, Eastern Desert of Egypt, which represents one of the most promising valleys on which the government depends for land reclamations and developments. These approaches have been used to integrate and delineate the locations of high groundwater recharge and the potential of the Quaternary aquifer in the Wadi Qena basin. After allocating weight factors to identify features in each case based on infiltration, land use/land cover, slope, geology, topology, soil, drainage density, lineament density, rainfall, flow accumulation, and flow direction, these thematic maps were combined. The results of the GIS modeling led to the division of the area’s groundwater recharge potential into five groups, ranging from very high (in the western part) to very low (in the eastern part of the basin). The zones with the best prospects for groundwater exploration turned out to be the alluvial and flood plains, with their thick strata of sand and gravel. The groundwater recharge potential map was validated using data from the field and earlier investigations. The promising recharging areas show high suitability for soil cultivation. The results overall reveal that RS and GIS methodologies offer insightful instruments for more precise assessment, planning, and monitoring of water resources in arid regions and anywhere with similar setups for groundwater prospecting and management.
... Mapping of groundwater potential zones (GWPZ) is a prerequisite to detailed geophysical surveys for borehole placement. To evaluate the groundwater potential of a region and enhance drilling success, researchers around the world use remote sensing and GIS techniques that are time-and cost-effective [8,9,[11][12][13][14]. Groundwater potential can be inferred from many groundwater recharge influencing factors such as lineament density, land cover, land use, drainage density, vegetation, aspect, rainfall, soil type, e.t.c., depending on regional peculiarities [12,[15][16][17][18]. ...
... Validation of groundwater potential zone maps using surface geophysics and borehole yield data has been carried out successfully elsewhere [11,13]. The correlation of the GWPZ map with the seismoelectric (iso-conductivity) map gives agreeable results. ...
... After the correlation between the groundwater potential zones map and the iso-conductivity map, additional validation was done by overlaying existing springs, boreholes, and static water level data on the GWPZ map (Fig. 9). Understanding the spatial distribution of existing springs and the static groundwater level is very important in understanding the groundwater resource distribution [13]. The reported static water level and spring data show a good correlation with the groundwater potential zones and iso-conductivity map. ...
In complex hard rock terrain where the population suffers from water scarcity, the use of site-specific single-method surface geophysical surveys to prospect for groundwater is a common practise. However, this has not completely solved the problem of drilling dry wells. To combat this failure, geospatial data and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) are being used as supporting techniques to increase the chance of success. This study had the aim of generating a groundwater potential zones (GWPZ) map of the complex strato-volcanic terrain of Buea by integrating geospatial techniques, AHP, and the seismoelectric method. Five factors influencing groundwater recharge were used to define the groundwater potential zones. Via the AHP and weighted overlay methods, five classes of groundwater potential zones were delineated: very poor, poor, moderate, good, and very good. More than half of the study area has good to very good groundwater potential. Lastly, the GWPZ model is validated with an iso-conductivity map from a seismoelectric survey and existing static water level data. The iso-conductivity map revealed four main conductivity zones that correlate positively with the GWPZ map. The northwestern part of the study area is characterised by moderate groundwater potential, poor formation conductivity, and dry boreholes. There is an uneven distribution of groundwater and variable water table depth in the area. The results of this study are very encouraging, and the integrated approach used has proven to be efficient in determining groundwater potential zones in complex volcanic terrain.
... As a part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt, the area of study was affected by intense multiphase deformations related to the Pan-African Orogeny (900-550 Ma) and followed by post-accretionary history (e.g. the Red Sea rifting 30 Ma) (Amer et al., 2013). This rifting was controlled by the NNW and NW oriented faults, which are called Clysmic faults, these faults extended to the Eastern Desert and the Northwestern part of the western desert (Jie et al., 2006). ...
... A general cross-section of the Eastern Desert illustrates the effect of the rifting system on the sedimentary succession forming deep-seated faults went through all the sedimentary succession (Fig. 2). Thus, fractured aquifers are likely to be common, especially in the Eocene Carbonate succession (Amer et al., 2013). ...
Groundwater resources in the Sahara are the backbone of the sustainable agricultural development. However, the assessment of groundwater dynamics, particularly the role of structural control on groundwater flow and recharge mechanism in Saharan karst aquifers (KA) is poorly constrained due to sparse hydrological data. The KA in East El-Minia area (EMA), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt is highly affected by a set of major faults related to the post-Eocene tectonics and Red Sea rifting system. The present study integrates field observations, Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar images (PALSAR), digital elevations models, geophysical, stable isotope and geochemical data to identify the structural control on groundwater flow and the recharge mechanisms in the KA. Analysis of the PALSAR data indicated that the area was affected by a set of NW trending normal faults and related grabens while the aeromagnetic data showed consistency of subsurface faults with the surficial trend. Isotopic data of groundwater from the KA indicated two mixing groups with three recharge sources. Group I, groundwater samples with mixed isotopic signature between Nubian Sandstone paleo-water and modern meteoric water with slightly depleted isotopic signature (δ18O: 3.2‰ to - 1.22‰, δ2H: 18.55‰ to - 1.44‰).
Group II, mixed water signatures between the old and modern Nile water endmembers with slightly enriched signatures (δ18O: 0.02‰–0.55‰, δ2H: 4.91‰ to 27.03‰).
Finally, mass balance calculations indicated that the mixing in Group I is dominated by Nubian-paleowater and rainwater, while in Group II samples are dominated by Nile water which indicates that NW faults control the recharge from the Nile at El Sareiryia watershed while impeding the recharge from the Nile at El Tahnwia. Our findings shed light on the role of structural control on groundwater dynamics in the KA in arid regions.
... Validation of groundwater potential zones map using surface geophysics and borehole yield data has been carried out successfully elsewhere [11], [13]. The correlation of the GWPZ map with the seismoelectric (iso-conductivity) map gives agreeable results. ...
... Understanding the spatial distribution of existing springs and the static groundwater level is very important in understanding the groundwater resource distribution [13]. The reported static water level and spring data show a good correlation with the groundwater potential zones and iso-conductivity map. ...
In complex hard-rock terrain where the population suffers from water scarcity, the use of site-specific single-method surface geophysical survey to prospect for groundwater is a common practice. However, this has not completely solved the problem of drilling dry wells. To combat this failure, geospatial data and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) are being used as supporting techniques to increase the chance of success. This study had the aim of generating groundwater potential zones (GWPZ) map of the complex strato-volcanic terrain of Buea by integrating geospatial techniques, AHP and the seismoelectric method. Six factors influencing groundwater recharge were used to define the groundwater potential zones. Via the AHP and weighted overlay methods, five classes of groundwater potential zones were delineated: very poor, poor, moderate, good, and very good. More than half of the study area has good to very good groundwater potential. Lastly, the GWPZ model is validated with an iso-conductivity map from a seismoelectric survey and existing static water level data. The iso-conductivity map revealed four main conductivity zones that correlate positively with the GWPZ map. The northwestern part of the study area is characterised by moderate groundwater potential, poor formation conductivity and dry boreholes. There is an uneven distribution of groundwater and variable water table depth in the area. The results of this study are very encouraging, and the integrated approach used has proven to be efficient in determining groundwater potential zones in complex volcanic terrain.
... The produced map can be used later as a supplemented tool with conventional geophysical methods. This relatively new technique was applied successfully in regions with similar climatic conditions (Amer et al., 2013;Elbeih, 2014;Abrams et al., 2018, andZein El-Din et al., 2018). ...
Groundwater is an essential natural resource and it has a significant role in the development of dry lands. It is the main source of fresh water in arid and semi-arid regions. The present study investigates groundwater potentiality in the western part of Assiut Governorate, Egypt using advanced remote sensing and geospatial techniques along with hydrological data and field validation. The adopted method provides a low-cost and highly effective tool that can be combined with the conventional land-based approach for mapping Groundwater Potentiality. The study aims to determine the groundwater probability and recharging zones based on the contribution of some physiographic variables that influence groundwater storage. Therefore, multi-sensors remote sensing data from ASTER, Landsat-8, MODIS, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and Radarsat-1 were accustomed to extract several geospatial thematic layers (variables). These layers include elevation, slope, curvature, drainage density, topographic wetness index, surface roughness, frequency of thermal anomaly, accumulated precipitation, Land Use/Land Cover (LULC), and lineament density. The produced layers are then scaled and weighted based on their contributions to the recharge of near-surface (unconfined) groundwater aquifers through infiltration and percolation processes. The Simple Additive Weight (SAW) method was utilized to aggregate all the weighted layers for creating the Groundwater Potentiality map. This aggregated grouped map was then classified into 5 classes, from very high to very low groundwater potentiality zones. The results show that the high Groundwater Potentiality was associated with low terrain, high surface ruggedness, high drainage and lineament densities, and relatively close to thermal anomalies in wadi deposits, and adjacent sandy areas. The remote sensing results were validated using comprehensive field observations including, pumping tests, water wells data, and vegetation patterns in the study area. The study concluded that a groundwater possibility map based on geospatial techniques and remote sensing data can provide a robust tool in groundwater exploration, and consequently, it can be adopted elsewhere in arid regions.
... The 2013 data for the water level was downloaded from the Central Groundwater Control Board (CGWB). The ArcGIS enables the identification of the areas that include these spatial relations (Amer 2013). To render the interpolation map via the IDW technique in ArcGIS10.8, ...
For groundwater evaluation, delineation, discovery, and resource management in drought and flood zones, the geographical information system (GIS) has a wide range of uses. For the study area, various thematic layers were prepared, such as a digital elevation map (DEM), geomorphology, LULC, soil, drainage density, precipitation, and slope. The thematic layers were combined using the WIOA technique. The possible areas for groundwater have been demarcated into four zones: 1-poor, 2-moderate, 3-good, and 4-very good. In the eastern parts of the district, very strong (GWPZs) were found, while in the west and mid regions, moderate and bad categories were found. Drought and flood potential danger areas were divided into four zones: 1-no risk, 2-low risk, 3-moderate risk, and 4-high risk. In the middle part of the region, there was a higher risk of drought and a reduced risk of flooding in the eastern part of the area, an elevated risk of flooding in the eastern part of the area, and a lower to no risk of flooding in the western and central regions. The groundwater, drought, and flood potential zonation map built in the present study will be useful for scholars, and implementers in exploring appropriate water exploration locations and implementing resource utilization.
... Water resources are indispensable to mankind, society, and countries and have a tremendous impact on people's livelihood as well as national agriculture, industry, and economy. When the water supply from rivers and alluvial aquifers is insufficient and unstable, it is crucial to explore substitute water supply from unexploited areas, such as mountainous regions [1][2][3][4][5][6]. However, most mountainous regions are situated in geologically complex terrains (GCTs) with heterogeneous hydrogeological features. ...
... This study lists case studies in bedrock, and three categories of parameters favorable to groundwater (i.e., geology, topography, and remote sensing index), as shown in Table 1 [1,5,12,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. The literature provides useful information on the characteristics of regional hydrogeology and geomorphology. ...
Due to rapid urbanization, the development of megacities and metropolises worldwide is creating water scarcity, social-environmental risk, and challenges to the regions where water supply from rivers and alluvial aquifers is insufficient and unstable. Groundwater exploration in fractured bedrock of mountainous regions is thus a crucial issue in the search for substitute water resources. To achieve cost effectiveness on groundwater exploration, the use of comprehensive remote sensing (RS)- and geographic information system (GIS)-based models appears feasible. The required parameters selected and analyzed from the literature depend on the hydrogeological characteristics. This study intends to investigate and improve the proposed parameters and data sources upon those presented in the literature. A total of 17 hydrogeological units of concern was delineated from 105 complex geological formations of the geological sections and main rock types. The other parameters related to groundwater potential were derived from the digital elevation model and Landsat imagery. In addition, 118 drilling cores were inspected and in-situ well yield data from 72 wells were employed to assess the normalized groundwater potential index in the raster-based empirical GIS model with a higher spatial resolution. The results show that the accuracy of the interpretation of groundwater potential sites improved from 48.6% to 84.7%. The three-dimensional (3D) visualization of a thematic map integrated with satellite imagery is useful as a cost-effective approach for assessing groundwater potential.
... Islam et al. (2016) integrates optical/infrared Landsat 8 OLI and active microwave Envisat ASAR images for paleochannel delineation. Amer et al. (2013) also revealed groundwater potential zone in shallow fracture zone aquifers using both radar and optical images. Sentinel-1A images were used for identifying structures and creating a high-resolution DEM while image calibration and speckle filtering. ...
Groundwater is an important natural resource for drinking and irrigation. Nevertheless, identifying potential sources in Ethiopia still presents a challenge in terms of time and costs for solving water scarcity problems and managing groundwater systems. To address these issues, this study combines optical and microwave remote sensing to identify groundwater potential zones in Ketar watershed, Ethiopia. Two Sentinel families, Sentinel-1A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Sentinel-2AMulti-Spectral Instrument (MSI) images, were processed to derive a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and thematic layers (lineament density, soil moisture, land-use/land-cover, drainage density, slope, and geomorphology) for the study area. Secondary data were used to produce geological units, soil texture, and rainfall thematic layers. These nine total layers were considered proxies to signify groundwater occurrence and analyzed in GIS environment with a consistency ratio (CR=0.013). Since each proxy contributes differently to the occurrence of groundwater, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was used to assign individual weights to each factor. These factors were reclassified based on standard criteria and aggregated using Weighted Linear Combination (WLC). Results of a weight comparison show that geological unit, rainfall, soil texture, slope and lineament density are the dominant factors controlling groundwater occurrence. The WLC classifies the area of potential groundwater zones into five classes: very low (607.64 km2), low (942.19), moderate (777.2), high (598.74) and very high (428.23). These zones were validated using 43 existing data points of boreholes, hand-dug wells, and springs and have a correlation coefficient of 0.93. The outcome of this study emphasizes the importance of integrated optical and microwave remote sensing in identifying potential groundwater zones with a better accuracy to address issues of water scarcity in Ethiopia.
... The sustainable development and management of groundwater resources require precise quantitative assessment based on the scientific principle and modern techniques [6]. Many scientific researchers around the world have utilized remote sensing and GIS for their groundwater-related studies and also they proved that integrated remote sensing and GIS approach will play an efficient role in subsurface studies [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. ...
The water present in the subsurface is considered as a high treasured water source. The present study deals with the delineation of groundwater potential zone in Tirunelveli Taluk, Tamil Nadu, South India. The study area lies between longitude 77°32′16″ to 77°48′8″E and latitude 8°40′12″ to 8°56′34″N with an area of 558.42 km². The groundwater potential zone of the Tirunelveli Taluk was inferred by the following layers, namely geology, geomorphology, lineament density, drainage density, rainfall, slope, soil and land use/land cover. These layers are digitized with the scale of 1:50,000 in GIS environment from the spatial data sources such as SOI topographic maps, GSI geology map, LANDSAT 8 satellite image, SRTM DEM, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Department daily rainfall data and available existing maps. The weights of the feature layers and ranking of each feature classes arrive from the pairwise comparison techniques of AHP technique. The prepared thematic maps are reclassified based on the influence of the layers feature classes on the groundwater availability. Finally, the reclassified layers are overlaid using weighted overlay tool to prepare groundwater prospect map. The finally this study resulted that 5.76 km² of the study area is identified as very high groundwater potential. The high potential area covers 382.9 km², and medium potential zone covers 169.72 km².
... It is difficult to choose the system of the fracture structure or to predict whether groundwater is presumably going to happen in the fractures. As a rule, drilling is the most ideal approach to avow the proximity of groundwater (Amer et al., 2013;Shrestha, 2018). ...
Water scarcity due to increasing urbanization and population in urban and rural areas makes necessary planning for artificial groundwater recharge. Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) are advantageous tools to delineate the Groundwater Potential Zones (GWPZ) in arid and semi-arid areas of India. An aggregate of eight thematic layers affecting groundwater potential of the area were assigned appropriate weights dependent on the Saaty's 9 point scale. These weights were normalized using AHP technique to delineate the GWPZ. About 2.30km 2 shows very good groundwater potential (GWP), 162.10km 2 shows good GWP, whereas 127.78km 2 and 1.45km 2 are under moderate and poor GWP, correspondingly. The structural hilly terrain located in the Eastern and Southern parts has a poor groundwater potential due to higher degree of slope and low permeability of clayey soils. This study can be helpful to identify the GWPZ of drought-prone zones useful for planning and development with integrated water resources management.
