Identification and Analysis of Groundwater Potential Zones in Hosur Taluk, Tamilnadu Using Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH REVIEW

IN ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT (IJRREM)
Identification and Analysis of Groundwater Potential Zones in

Hosur Taluk, Tamilnadu using Remote Sensing and Geographical
Information System
Pooja.P.Nair1
M.Tech. Remote Sensing
Department of Civil Engineering
Adhiyamaan College of Engineering,
Hosur - 635109,Tamilnadu, India.
poojanairp93@gmail.com
Dr.S. Suresh.Babu2
HOD and Professor,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Adhiyamaan College of Engineering,
Hosur - 635109, Tamilnadu, India
hod_civil@adhiyamaan.ac.in
ABSTRACT
For the exploration of groundwater resources, integration of remote sensing data and
the geographical information system (GIS) has become a breakthrough in the field of
groundwater research which assists in accessing, monitoring and conserving groundwater
resources. In this project, various groundwater potential zones for the assessment of
groundwater availability at Hosur Taluk , Krishnagiri District have been delineated using
remote sensing and GIS techniques. Survey of India toposheets , LISS IV imageries are used
to prepare various thematic map layers viz. lithology, slope, land-use, lineament, drainage,
soil, and rainfall were transformed to raster data using feature to raster converter tool in
ArcGIS. The raster maps of these factors are allocated a fixed score and weight computed
from weightage overlay analysis. Moreover, each weighted thematic layer is statistically
computed to get the groundwater potential zones. The ground water potential zones thus
obtained were divided in to four categories, viz., poor, moderate, good, very good, excellent
zones. The result depicts the ground water potential zones in the study area and found to be
helpful in better planning and management of groundwater resources.
Keywords: Remote sensing, GIS, Weighted overlay, Thematic maps.
I.INTRODUCTION
Groundwater is one of the most valuable natural resources, which supports human health,
economic development and ecological diversity. Because of its several inherent qualities it
has become an immensely important and dependable source of water supplies in all climatic
regions including both urban and rural areas of developed and developing countries.
Groundwater potential is measured by (a) recharge rate and mechanism,(b) aquifer storage
and transmission properties,(c) suitability of the water from water quality point of view and
International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

(IJRREM)Volume -1,Issue-2,Feb-2017 Page no:61-77
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(d) the response of the aquifer to changes such as climate, seasonality, artificial withdrawal
and pollution.
Monitoring of Groundwater potential using GIS and remote sensing imagery has received
increasingly greater attention in recent years. The use of remotely sensed data along with
Geographic Information System (GIS) is well suited, and it can be easily combined with the
data generated from conventional and ground measurement systems. They are used to
identify the geology, geomorphology, soil, lineament density, drainage density, rainfall and
land use for maps that indicate the occurrence of groundwater. The integration of
groundwater resources evaluation using the remote sensing method. Remote sensing and GIS
possess new possibilities for hydro geological studies. High-resolution satellite imageries are
widely used in groundwater studies due to their high spectral and spatial resolution. The
overlay analysis by GIS technique was used to delineate the groundwater potential zone.
II. RELATED WORK
Senthil Kumar, G.ret al., (2014) remote sensing and geological data framework (GIS) has
turned into one of the heading devices in the field of groundwater examination, which helps
in surveying, checking, and rationing groundwater assets. A detailed analysis was led to
figure out the groundwater potential zones in Lekkur sub bowl of Mangalur Block, Cuddalore
region, Tamil Nadu, South India. The topical maps, for example, geography, geomorphology,
soil hydrological gathering, area use/ area spread and waste guide were ready for the study
range. All the topical maps were changed over into lattice (raster design) and superimposed
by weighted overlay technique (rank and weightage insightful topical maps). From the
investigation the groundwater potential zones with brilliant, great, great, moderate and poor
prospects.
Murugesan Bagyaraj et al., (2012) have carried out groundwater study in the Dindigul
district of Kodaikanal hill, which is a mountainous terrain in the Western Ghats of Tamilnadu.
Ground water potential zones have been demarcated with the help of remote sensing and
Geographical information (GIS) techniques. All thematic maps are generated using the
resource sat (IRS P6 LISS IV MX) data and Inverse distance weight (IDW) model is used in
GIS data to identify the groundwater potential of the study area. For the various geomorphic
units, weight factors were assigned based on their capability to store groundwater.
Prabir Mukherjee et al., (2012) made an attempt to determine the groundwater potential
zones within an arid region of Kachchh district, Gujarat. Thematic layers have been generated
by using ancillary data and digital satellite image. The potential zones have been obtained by
weighted overlay analysis, the ranking given for each individual parameter of each thematic
map and weights were assigned according to their influence.
Hsin-Fu Yehet al., (2008) Assessing the groundwater recharge potential zone in Chih-Pen-
Creek basin in eastern Taiwan using lithology, land use/land cover, lineaments, drainage and
slope. The weights of the factors contributing to groundwater recharge was derived using
aerial photos, geology maps, a land use database and field verification. The resultant map of

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the groundwater potential area was located towards the downstream region in the basin
because of the high infiltration rates caused by the gravely sand and agricultural land use in
these regions.
Sarkar et al., (2000) A Groundwater potential map was generated for micro watershed by
using thematic maps of drainage, lineament, lithology, slope and land use. They employed a
multicriterion approach that allowed linear combination of weights of each thematic map (W)
with the individual capability value (C.V) which were converted to capabilities values using
Baysian statistics. These capabilities values (C.V) were multiplied with respective probability
weight of each potential map. The groundwater occurrence was then classified into six
categories of potentiality, namely excellent, very good, good, moderate, poor and very poor.
III. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are :-
To prepare thematic maps on surface and sub-surface features viz: Geology,

Geomorphology, Soil, Slope, Drainage & its density, Landuse/landcover. Rainfall.
To identify groundwater potential zones by using Weighted Overlay Analysis by
giving weightage for each theme based
To integrate all thematic maps using GIS and demarcating groundwater potential
zones of the study area.
IV. STUDY AREA

The study area, Hosur taluk, is one among the seven taluk of Krishnagiri district of
Tamilnadu state. It geographically lies between 12.7409N latitude and 77.8253 E
longitude. Study area covers an area of 997.259 sq km. Hosur experiences a tropical savanna
climate (Kppen climate classification) with distinct wet and dry seasons. Due to its high
elevation, Hosur usually enjoys salubrious and moderate climate throughout the year, with
occasional heat waves. Geologically the area consist of Chamockite Gneiss, Granitoid and
Gneiss and Metavolcanic Sediments. The landform of the area includes denudational
landforms, pediments, inselbergs and plateaus etc.

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Fig 1 : Map Showing Study Area
V. MATERIALS AND METHODS

LISS IV satellite images of 5.8 m resolution (2016), ASTER DEM of 30m resolution (2011)
products and Survey of India topographical geological map of 1: 50,000 were utilized in the
study. The packages have been used to perform the data processing and analyses are ERDAS
2013, ArcGIS 10.2, QGIS 2013 and MS office for data processing. All the satellite images/
products were geocorrected UTM projection and WGS 84 datum. Methodology, Toposheet,
Satellite image and DEM data shown below.
Fig 2 : Flow chart showing methodology of this study

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Fig 3 : Toposheet and LISS IV Satellite Image of Study Area
Fig 4 : ASTER GDEM of the Study Area

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Thematic maps such as land use/ land cover, geomorphology, slope, lithology, soil, drainage
density and lineament density have been identified to delineate the groundwater potential
zones. Each factor is weighted according to its strength, knowledge based and by consulting
geologist. The representative weight of a factor of the potential zone is the sum of all weights
from each factor. A factor with a higher weight value shows a larger impact and a factor with
a lower weight value shows a smaller impact on groundwater potential zones. Integration of
these factors with their potential weights is computed through Weighted Overlay Analysis in
ArcGIS.
Table 1: Classification of Weighted Factors Influencing the Potential Zones
Assigning a weight to each raster in the overlay process allows to control the influence of
different criteria in the suitability model. Multiplying each layers weight by each cells
suitability value produces a weighted suitability value. Weighted suitability values are totalled
for each overlaying cell and then written to an output layer.

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GWP=
0.2
Geo+0.1 DD+ 0.15 LD+

LU+ 0.15 i=1-4 i=1-4
i=1-5 i=1-3
0.1 Soil+ 0.1 Slope + 0.05 Lit +

i=1-2 i=1-5 i=1-3
where, GWPZ =
0.15 RF
i=1-4
Groundwater Potential, LU = Land Use, Geo = Geomorphology, DD = Drainage Density , LD =

Lineament Density, Lt = Lithology, RF = Rainfall
VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Land use / Land cover Map

Landuse/landcover map was prepared from LISS IV satellite dataset of 2016, by using
software ERDAS 2013 . The following classes are distinguished: (i) water bodies, (ii) Built
up, (iii) Crop Land, (iv) Mixed Trees, (v) Bush Land. Builtup area has the lowest weightage
compared to other classes and Crop land has the highest weightage. Bush land is a land that
is covered with small bushes where as mixed trees is a land which was periodically left idle
i.e. land that is not planted to a crop itself ; that is why it was given less weight than crop
land. Waterbody has a weightage which is next less to the crop land.
Table 2 : Area under Classification of LU/LC

Area in Kilometer Square
Land Cover 2016
Class
Km 2 %
Builtup Area 213.9863 21.45405763
Crop Land 361.1485 36.2083962
Vegetation 363.5829 36.45246677
Mixed Trees 5.153308
51.39995
831

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Water Body 0.731770

7.2988
566
Area of Land Use

Builtup Area
Crop Land
Vegetation
Mixed Trees
Water Body
Fig 5 : Pie chart shows the Area coverage of LU/LC
Fig 6 : Land use / land cover Map
B. Geomorphology Map
The different geomorphology units were depicted from satellite information and are portrayed
underneath and introduced in Figure. Different classes were distinguished in the study area
and are portrayed beneath such as 1) Highly Dissected Plateaus 2) Moderately Dissected
Plateaus 3) Low Dissected Plateaus. Highly dissected plateaus were given the lowest
weighted since its having mainly Runoff as compared with the moderately dissected plateaus
which is acting as Recharge-CumRunoff. Low dissected plateaus were given highest
weighted since it's having no run off and water will absorbed by the ground.

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Fig 7: Geomorphology Map
C. Lithology Map
Mainly there are three types of classification are done under lithology map ie; (i) Granitoid
and gneiss (ii) Chamockite Gneiss (iii) Metavolcanics with meta sediments. It was observed
from the map that 80 percent of the total area was covered with Granitoid and gneiss, which
indicate that the major portion of the study area comes under hard rock terrain. About 15
percent of the total area with Chamockite Gneiss and 5 percent Metavolcanics with
metasediments. Chamockite gniess has the highest weightage compared to other two types
and lowest weightage is for granitoid and gneiss.
Fig 8 : Lithology Map

D. Soil Map

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Soil is formed due to combined action of rocks, topography and climate and it comprises of
different mineral particles, water, air and humus. According to the study area, there were only
two classification under soil ie; (i) sandy Loamy and (ii) Rock land. From the map we can
observed that sandy loamy soil filled area is higher than the rock land. Sandy loamy soil has
highest weightage than rock land due to the high water absorption capacity of the sandy
loamy soil.
Fig 9 : Soil Map
E. Slope Map
Slope map was generated from LISS IV data from NRSA, Hyderabad India was used in the
present study. Most portion of the study area is covered by very gently sloping. Slope range
was differentiated into five groups. Finally, five classes of slopes (0 - 2, 2-5, 5 - 10, 10 - 20,
20 - 53.1007) were differentiated and shown in (Figure). Higher slope will produce more
runoff with lesser infiltration, and it will have a poor groundwater prospects contrasted with
low slope region. The higher weight has been assigned to gentle slope and lesser weight to
higher slope.

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Fig 10 : Slope Map
F. Drainage
Drainage of the study area is one of the practical approaches to know the lithological and
structural control of land form evolution. Agricultural activities depends on natural rivers,
wells, rain fed structure, minor irrigation, seasonal rivers etc.
Fig 11. Drainage Map
G. Drainage density Map

Drainage density of the study area was calculated as the total length of streams in the sub
basin area and expressed as km/km2. The drainage density was found to be 0.40988154
Km/Km2. Drainage density value was grouped into four groups: 1- 1.5, 1.5 - 2, 2 - 2.5, 2.5 -
3. A low drainage density region causes higher infiltration and it yields in better groundwater

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potential zones as correlated to a high drainage density region. The higher weight was given
to the low drainage density regions and the lower weight to the high drainage density areas.
Fig 12 : Lineament Density Map
H. Lineament Map
Lineament map is generated from the LISS IV satellite data. Lineament characteristics were
mainly found along the SWSE and the NESE directions, and a very few are along the EW
and the NS directions, as shown in (Figure). Lineaments play a very important role in
recharging groundwater in the hard terrains rock . Groundwater potential is very much higher
near lineament zones.

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Fig 13 : Lineament Map

I. Lineament density Map
The above lineament map of analysis area was used for generating the lineament density.
Polygons with higher values of lineament density will achieve greater recharge and hence a
better prospects for groundwater. Lineament density was divided into various intervals: 0-
153, 153-306, 306-459, 459-612. The most significant value of ranking was designated to
highest lineament density interval.
Fig 14 : Lineament Density Map

J. Rainfall Map
The annual average rainfall of the study area is around 196.5455 mm. Rainfall of study area
classified in to four classes which ranges from 93.3045 mm - 103.230 mm. Low rainfall value
gives low weightage of about six and high value has high weightage of about nine. Rainfall
distribution along with the slope gradient directly affects the infiltration rate of runoff water
hence increases the possibility of groundwater potential zones.

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Fig 15 : Rainfall Map
K. Groundwater Potential Map

The identification of groundwater potential zones for the study area was made by grouping of
the interpreted layers through Weighted Overlay Analysis and finally assigned different
potential zones. Depending upon the groundwater potentiality, each class of the main eight
thematic layers (geomorphology, slope, Lithology, drainage density, lineament density, soil,
land use) are roughly placed into one of the following groups viz., i. Excellent, ii. Very good,
iii. Good, iv. Moderate, v. Poor. Suitable weighted on a scale of 1 - 9 has been given to each
class of a particular thematic layer based on their contribution towards ground water
potentiality. The weighted and % of influence assigned for various classes on all thematic
layers are shown in the Table. All the thematic maps have been integrated. A final
groundwater potential map is prepared with application of above technique. Most of the
region in study area concerns good level of ground water potential zone and hill side areas
has very poor ground water potential zones.

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Area in Kilometer Square

Groundwater
2016
Category
Km 2 %
Excellent 77.25017 7.864303007
Table 3 : Area of Groundwater
Very Good 293.0115 29.82946472
Category
Good 341.3781 34.75333217
Moderate 250.9578 25.54826975
Groundwater
Poor 19.69126 Weight
Category 2.004630349
Table
Excellent 9
Very Good 8
Good 5
Moderate 3
Poor 1
Table 4 : Weightage of Groundwater Category
Area of Groundwater Potential Zones

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Moderate
Poor
Fig 16 : Pie chart shows area of groundwater category

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Fig 17: Groundwater Potential Zone Map
VII. CONCLUSION
Identification and analysis of groundwater potential zones in Hosur Taluk of Tamil Nadu
using remote sensing, GIS and Weighted Overlay Analysis is found efficient to minimize the
time, labour and money and thereby enables quick decision-making for sustainable water
resources management. The required thematic maps for the groundwater prospecting zones of
the study area were directly generated by remote sensing data using the software ERDAS
Imagine and ARCGIS. Satellite imageries, topographic maps and conventional data were
used to prepare the thematic layers of lithology, lineament density, drainage density, slope,
soil, land-use, geomorphology and rainfall. The various thematic layers are assigned proper
weightage through knowledge based and also with the help of geologists and then integrated
in the GIS environment to prepare the groundwater potential zone map of the study area.
According to the groundwater potential zone map, Hosur Taluk is categorized into five
different zones, namely 'Excellent' very good, good, 'Moderate' and poor. The poor
zone was indicating the least favourable area for groundwater prospect; whereas excellent
zone indicates the most favourable area for groundwater prospect. The results of the present
study can serve as guidelines for planning future artificial recharge projects in the study area
in order to ensure sustainable groundwater utilization. This is an empirical method for the
exploration of groundwater potential zones using remote sensing and GIS, and it succeeds in
proposing potential sites for groundwater zones. This method can be widely applied to a vast
area with rugged topography for the exploration of suitable sites.
REFERENCES

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1. Biswas, Arkoprovo., Jana, Adarsa., Sharma, Shashi Prakash., (2012). Delineation of

Groundwater Potential Zones using Satellite Remote Sensing and Geographic
Information System Techniques: A Case study from Ganjam district, Orissa,
India.International Science Congress Association, 1(9), 59-66.
2. Hsin-Fu Yeh, Cheng-Haw Lee, Kuo-Chin Hsu, Po-Hsun Chang)., GIS for assessment of
the groundwater recharge potential zone. Environ Geol 58:185-195,2008..
3. Kamaraja J., Arul Mani M., Jayaraman V. and Manivel M., (1996).Selection of Sites for
Artificial Recharge Towards Groundwater Development of Water Resource in
India.Proceeding of the 18th Asian Conference on RemoteSensing, Kuala Lumpur. 20 -
24 October.
4. Krishnamurthy, J., Mani, A.N., Jayaram, V. and Manivel, M (2000), groundwater
resources development in hard rock terrain: An approach using remote sensing and GIS
techniques. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformatics, 2,
pp 204215.
5. Krisingh, Ameresh and Ravi, prakash., (2006) for groundwater examination in hard shake
zones,., 2000. Groundwater resources development in hard rock terrain: an approach
using remote sensing and GIS techniques. International Journal of Applied Earth
Observation and Geoinformation, 2 (34), 204215.
6. Murugesan B, Thirunavukkarasu R, Senapathi V, Balasubramanian G Application of
remote sensing and GIS analysis for groundwater potential zone in kodaikanal Taluka,
South India. Earth Sci. 7(1): 65-75,2012.
7. Nagarajan and Singh., (2009) "Determined the occurrence and movement of
groundwater" Environmental Geology Vol. 38 No.3 pp. 209222
8. Prabir Mukherjee, Chander Kumar Singh and Saumitra Mukherjee Delineation of
Groundwater Potential Zones in Arid Region of India, A Remote Sensing and GIS
Approach. Water Resource Manage 26:26432672,2011.
9. Sarkar K (2000). Evaluation of Groundwater Potential zones using Remote Sensing data
in upper Vaigai River Basin, Tamilnadu, India. Journal of the Indian Society of Remote
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10. Senthil Kumar, G.R., Shankar, K. (2014). Assessment of Groundwater Potential Zones
UsingGIS. Frontiers in Geosciences, vol. 2, No.1, pp. 1-10.

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Identification and Analysis of Groundwater Potential Zones in Hosur Taluk, Tamilnadu Using Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH REVIEW

Identification and Analysis of Groundwater Potential Zones in

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

II. RELATED WORK

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

To prepare thematic maps on surface and sub-surface features viz: Geology,

IV. STUDY AREA

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 1 : Map Showing Study Area

V. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fig 2 : Flow chart showing methodology of this study

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 3 : Toposheet and LISS IV Satellite Image of Study Area

Fig 4 : ASTER GDEM of the Study Area

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Table 1: Classification of Weighted Factors Influencing the Potential Zones

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Geo+0.1 DD+ 0.15 LD+

0.1 Soil+ 0.1 Slope + 0.05 Lit +

Groundwater Potential, LU = Land Use, Geo = Geomorphology, DD = Drainage Density , LD =

VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Land use / Land cover Map

Table 2 : Area under Classification of LU/LC

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Water Body 0.731770

Area of Land Use

Fig 5 : Pie chart shows the Area coverage of LU/LC

Fig 6 : Land use / land cover Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 7: Geomorphology Map

Fig 8 : Lithology Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 9 : Soil Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 10 : Slope Map

Fig 11. Drainage Map

G. Drainage density Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 12 : Lineament Density Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 13 : Lineament Map

Fig 14 : Lineament Density Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 15 : Rainfall Map

K. Groundwater Potential Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Area in Kilometer Square

Table 4 : Weightage of Groundwater Category

Area of Groundwater Potential Zones

Fig 16 : Pie chart shows area of groundwater category

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

Fig 17: Groundwater Potential Zone Map

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

1. Biswas, Arkoprovo., Jana, Adarsa., Sharma, Shashi Prakash., (2012). Delineation of

International Journal of Research Review in Engineering and Management

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