Delineation of Groundwater Potential Zone Using AHP, GIS, and Remote Sensing Techniques in Sirkole Watershed, Western Ethiopia.

Abstract

Thes thesis discusses the use of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques to evaluate groundwater potential zones in a section of the Sirkole watershed in Western Ethiopia. The study analyzed various spatial data layers, including land use, drainage density, lineaments, slope, lithology, rainfall, geomorphology, and soil type, to understand the factors influencing groundwater occurrence and movement. Lineaments were extracted using PCI Geomatical software, and their orientations were determined. Parameters were weighted using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), and each feature class was ranked based on its characteristics and relationship with groundwater. The resulting groundwater potential zone map categorized the watershed into five zones: very high, high, moderate, low, and very low. Approximately 44.5% was categorized as having high to very high groundwater potential, and 25.4% of the watershed was classified as having very low to low. Validation against existing pumping wells showed a prediction accuracy of 75.9%, affirming the reliability of the GIS and remote sensing techniques used to identify potential zones in the study area.