Evaluation of Groundwater potential Zones using RS and GIS Application in Malattar watershed, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Groundwater is one of the major sources of water both in the semi-arid and arid regions like Tamil Nadu, India. It is of fundamental importance to any social or economic development. In recent decades, as surface water supplies have been depleted or contaminated and hence more attention has been given to groundwater resources. The advances in the technology especially in the field of remote sensing satellite technology, geophysics, etc. have resulted in enormous increase in the extraction of groundwater. The reservoirs and tanks of the surface water body mainly depending on rainfall.  Due to various reasons the capacity of these structures is also reduced. Hence the storage conditions of these structures are poor during monsoon seasons. In many parts of the state, the declination of groundwater level is a major concern because of continuous pumping of groundwater and poor storage in tanks and reservoirs. Variation of temperature, wind velocity, sunshine hours and evapotranspiration were analyzed. Seasonal average rainfall for 46 years was used to analyze spatial distribution. Geomorphology, land use and lineaments derived from satellite data and geology and soil prepared from district resource maps. Depth to bed rock and weathered rock derived from geophysical survey data to evaluate aquifer thickness. Groundwater potential zonation map was generated using Geographical Information system (GIS) by integration of various thematic maps in the Malattar watershed