Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern Ethiopia

Groundwater (GW) is a vital freshwater resource and essential for meeting domestic, irrigation, and industrial demands. As the demand for water rises, evaluating groundwater potential (GWP) and aquifer productivity becomes increasingly important. This research focuses on mapping groundwater potentia...

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Main Authors: Debisa Debela, Fikadu Woldemariyam Wodessa, Shankar Karuppannan, Dechasa Diriba
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Scientific African
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227625002170
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author Debisa Debela
Fikadu Woldemariyam Wodessa
Shankar Karuppannan
Dechasa Diriba
author_facet Debisa Debela
Fikadu Woldemariyam Wodessa
Shankar Karuppannan
Dechasa Diriba
author_sort Debisa Debela
collection DOAJ
description Groundwater (GW) is a vital freshwater resource and essential for meeting domestic, irrigation, and industrial demands. As the demand for water rises, evaluating groundwater potential (GWP) and aquifer productivity becomes increasingly important. This research focuses on mapping groundwater potential zones (GWPZ) in the Upper Dawa River Basin (UDRB), Southern Ethiopia, utilizing a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Seven factors influencing GW availability, recharge, and distribution were considered: drainage density(DD), geology(GL), lineament density(LD), soil type, land use/land cover(LULC), rainfall, and slope. The WOA (weighted overlay analysis) tool in ArcGIS 10.8 generates the final GWPZ map. The results identified five categories of GWPZ: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high, covering 0.26 %, 45.9 %, 8.8 %, 16.34 %, and 28.08 % of the area under study, respectively. The volcanic terrain in the north and northwest, the limestone terrain in the southeast, and patchy or elongated small areas in the basement terrain in the center and south of the research area were mapped as high to very high GWPZs. Conversely, a significant portion of the basement terrain was classified as low-very low GWP. The GWPM (groundwater potential map) accuracy is assessed by utilizing the area under the curve (AUC) approach, resulting in an AUC value of 0.834, indicating a dependable outcome. The findings of this research contribute to ongoing efforts to ensure sustainable water sources for vulnerable communities in the area under investigation.
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spelling doaj-art-7aafff8aef46474f9f44d08c5ef4bc7e2025-08-20T03:09:41ZengElsevierScientific African2468-22762025-06-0128e0274710.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02747Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern EthiopiaDebisa Debela0Fikadu Woldemariyam Wodessa1Shankar Karuppannan2Dechasa Diriba3Department of Applied Geology, College of Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama P.O. Box, 1888, EthiopiaDepartment of Applied Geology, College of Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama P.O. Box, 1888, Ethiopia; Corresponding author.Department of Applied Geology, College of Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama P.O. Box, 1888, Ethiopia; Department of Research Analytics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Geology, College of Natural and Computational Science, Dilla University P.O. Box, 419, Dilla, EthiopiaGroundwater (GW) is a vital freshwater resource and essential for meeting domestic, irrigation, and industrial demands. As the demand for water rises, evaluating groundwater potential (GWP) and aquifer productivity becomes increasingly important. This research focuses on mapping groundwater potential zones (GWPZ) in the Upper Dawa River Basin (UDRB), Southern Ethiopia, utilizing a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Seven factors influencing GW availability, recharge, and distribution were considered: drainage density(DD), geology(GL), lineament density(LD), soil type, land use/land cover(LULC), rainfall, and slope. The WOA (weighted overlay analysis) tool in ArcGIS 10.8 generates the final GWPZ map. The results identified five categories of GWPZ: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high, covering 0.26 %, 45.9 %, 8.8 %, 16.34 %, and 28.08 % of the area under study, respectively. The volcanic terrain in the north and northwest, the limestone terrain in the southeast, and patchy or elongated small areas in the basement terrain in the center and south of the research area were mapped as high to very high GWPZs. Conversely, a significant portion of the basement terrain was classified as low-very low GWP. The GWPM (groundwater potential map) accuracy is assessed by utilizing the area under the curve (AUC) approach, resulting in an AUC value of 0.834, indicating a dependable outcome. The findings of this research contribute to ongoing efforts to ensure sustainable water sources for vulnerable communities in the area under investigation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227625002170Groundwater potential zonesGISAHPWeighted overlay analysisDawa river basin
spellingShingle Debisa Debela
Fikadu Woldemariyam Wodessa
Shankar Karuppannan
Dechasa Diriba
Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern Ethiopia
Scientific African
Groundwater potential zones
GIS
AHP
Weighted overlay analysis
Dawa river basin
title Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern Ethiopia
title_full Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern Ethiopia
title_short Geospatial technology-based identification of groundwater potential zone in the Upper Dawa River Basin, Southern Ethiopia
title_sort geospatial technology based identification of groundwater potential zone in the upper dawa river basin southern ethiopia
topic Groundwater potential zones
GIS
AHP
Weighted overlay analysis
Dawa river basin
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227625002170
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AT shankarkaruppannan geospatialtechnologybasedidentificationofgroundwaterpotentialzoneintheupperdawariverbasinsouthernethiopia
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