Abstract

Groundwater is considered as the preferred source of water for meeting domestic,

industrial & agricultural requirements, due to its longer residence time in the ground, low
level of contamination, wide distribution, & availability within the reach of the consumer.
Remote sensing & Geographical information system technology have opened new
paths in groundwater studies. The concept of integrated remote sensing & geographical
information system has proved to be an efficient tool in integrating urban planning &
ground water studies. The groundwater prospect map is a systematic effort & has been
prepared considering major controlling factors, such as geology, geomorphology,
drainage pattern, water body, settlement, slopes, etc. which influence the occurrence,
movement, depth & yield of groundwater The present study is an attempt to generate
groundwater prospect map of Federal Locus Gombe Nigeria using integrated approach
of Remote Sensing & Geographic Information System techniques.
 INTRODUCTION

Federal Locus in Gombe is one of the most water scarce in the state. Meeting water
demand is challenge, and managing water resources is imperative (Ministry of Water
and Irrigation2012). Gombe state federal locus is classified among a few Area in the
state with limited water resources and it is one of the lowest on a per capita basis.
About 94% of the Area’s lands have arid to semi-arid climate with annual precipitation
of less than 200 mm. The Problem of water scarcity is faced in all sectors particularly
the agricultural sector. Agriculture in the highlands depends mainly on the limited
groundwater resources which have been subjected to heavy abstraction and withdrawal
in the last three decades. This has resulted in lowering the water table and deteriorating
the water quality. According to Jordan’s Water Strategy for the years 2008 to 2022, the
deficit in the available water resources was about 45% in 2005. And the projected
deficit in 2022 is estimated around 30% assuming that additional sources of water are
available. The increase in water demand was observed as the population growth tended
to continue. Water shortage is expected to increase from 204 MCM in the year 2000 to
reach 408 MCM in the year 2020 (mike, 2011).
Therefore, development of water resources is required to satisfy the increasing demand
on water. Groundwater is considered as the major conventional water resource in THE
Area. Aquifers contain hundreds of billions cubic meters of water distributed all over the
country. On average, groundwater contributes to more than 45% of the total water
resources in Jordan. Therefore, groundwater exploration requires an integrated work of
geology, hydrogeology and hydrology studies besides some geophysical site
investigation. These traditional methods of groundwater exploration consume time and
money. Alternatively, Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS)
tools can be used to detect areas with high potential for groundwater exploration. The
main advantages of using remote sensing and GIS techniques for groundwater
exploration are the reduction of cost and time needed, the fast extraction of information
on the occurrence of groundwater and the selection of promising areas for further
groundwater exploration (adeboye, 2002). This study aims at assessing the potential
sites for groundwater exploration in central parts of Gombe using GIS and Remote
Sensing techniques.

Some researchers around the world have used GIS and remote sensing
techniques for similar purpose. had analyzed the relationships between groundwater
specific capacity (SPC) and its related hydrological factors to assess the sensitivity of
each factor and map the regional groundwater potential for the area, using a
geographic information system (GIS) and a probability model.( kuleleyi, 1999) had
explored the groundwater availability for agriculture in the Musi basin. In their study,
Remote sensing data and geographic information system were used to locate potential
zones for groundwater. Based on hydro-geomorphological conditions, the groundwater
availability of the basin was qualitatively classified into different classes (i.e., very good,
good, moderate, poor and nil).

STUDY AREA
. Location and Climate
The study Area are predominantly sedimentary terrain (Figure 1). The total area of the
terrain is 1900 km². The Area has a flat topography in the east and steep slopes in the
west. Altitude of study area varies from 321 m below sea level at the eastern shoreline
of the Dead Sea (lowest point on earth) to 997 m in the eastern parts of the study area.

The basin is dominated by an arid Mediterranean climate with relatively cold

winters and hot summers. The mean monthly air temperature ranges from 6˚C in
January up to 22˚C in August, with a mean annual air temperature of 15.0˚C. With
exception to northwestern parts, the mean annual rainfall is 100 - 200 mm, occurring
mainly during winter season ( April-October). The mean annual potential evaporation
ranges from 1600 mm in the western parts to 2000 mm in the east and 2200 mm at the
outlet near the Dead Sea. In terms of land use, about 47% of the basin is used as open
rangelands. Agricultural activity is also taking place in the basin where rain fed
cultivation of wheat and barley is practiced in 38% of the basin (Figure 1). Irrigated
areas form 3% of the total area of the basin, while 7% of the basin is urban.

Figure 1. (a) Land use/cover (b) and topography

Geology of the Study Area:

The basin is characterized by the strata of Belqa group and partly of Ajlun group ( Table
1) (Pelamin, 2011) . The groups are mainly dominated by cretaceous carbonate rocks
that outcrop in most of the study area. The oldest rock that outcrops in the study area is
the Limestone formation, deposited in an agitated marine environment, from the
Turonian age. The lower part is composed of marl, marly limestone, coquina, micrite,
sand and dolomicrite with chert nodules that has an average thickness of 62 m(mike,
2003). The upper part is composed of limestone, dolomitic limestone and fossiloferous
limestone with an average thickness of about 4.5 m.
An abrupt change in sedimentation resulting from an extensive Coniacian marine
transgression marks the base of Belq group where a predominantly chalky unit of Wadi
Ghudran (WG) formation of ConiacianSantonian age overlies Ajlun group. This formation
consists of Mujib Chalk, brecciated dolomitic limestone, and Dhiban Chalk with fish teeth
outcropping all over the basin area. The formations of Belqa group include Al Hisa
Phoshorite formation (AHP), (Campanian age), which consists of dark grayish chert,
marly limestone and phosphate, and the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl formation (MCM)
(Maastrichtian age), which consists of marl and chalk with chalky and micritic limestone
concretions. Also, it includes Madaba Calcareous Breccia (MCB) (M. Eocene age), which
consists of brecciated and partly conglomeratic clasts of phosphate, limestone, chert
and chalk in a mudstone matrix located on hills, slopes and along some wadis in
Madaba area.
The geology of the study area has some unique formations that include basaltic flows of
Pleistocene, as volcanic tuffs restricted to the upper courses of Wadi Al Haidan.
Quaternary Superficial Deposits (Pleistocene age) of Fluviatile and Lacustrine Gravels
(PI) cover most of the wadis of the basin, particularly in the east. Aridic soils are
dominating the low rainfall zones, while dark brown Mediterranean soils are dominating
the high rainfall zones.

HYDROLOGY

Groundwater is one of the most important natural resource of the earth which is mostly required
for drinking, irrigation and industrialization. Ground water is attracting an ever increasing
interest due to scarcity of good quality subsurface water and growing need of water for domestic,
agricultural, and industrial uses. It has become crucial not only for targeting of groundwater
potential zones, but also monitoring and conserving this important resource. Efficient
management and planning of groundwater in these areas is of the utmost importance. The rate of
withdrawal of groundwater is increasing continuously due to rapid growth of population
accompanied by agricultural and industrial development. The occurrence and movement of
groundwater in an area is governed by several factors such as topography, lithology, geological
structure, depth of weathering, slope, land use/land cover and interrelationship between these
factors. Artificial recharge systems are engineered systems where surface water is put on or in
the ground for infiltration and subsequent movement to aqui-fers to augment groundwater
resources. Where these are not available, trenches or shafts in the unsaturated zone can be used,
or water can be directly injected into aquifers through wells. Remote sensing and GIS technology
have opened new paths in groundwater studies. In the present study, an attempt has been made to
identify the Ground Water Prospect sites in the study Area based on remote sensing and GIS
techniques. The objective is to prepare the ground water prospects maps corresponding to survey
of Area topographic sheet covering all the habitation.

Methodology

Remote sensing is the act of acquiring information about the Earth's surface without
actually being in contact with it. This is done by sensing and recording reflected or
emitted energy and processing, analyzing, and applying that information.

In much of remote sensing, the process involves an interaction between incident

radiation and the targets of interest. This is exemplified by the use of imaging systems
where the following seven elements are involved.

1. Energy Source or Illumination (A) – the first requirement for remote sensing is to have
an energy source which illuminates or provides electromagnetic energy to the target
of interest.

2. Radiation and the Atmosphere (B) – as the energy travels from its source to the
target, it will come in contact with and interact with the atmosphere it passes through. This
interaction may take place a second time as the energy travels from the target to the
sensor.

3. Interaction with the Target (C) - once the energy makes its way to the target through the
atmosphere, it interacts with the target depending on the properties of both the target and the
radiation.

4. Recording of Energy by the Sensor (D) - after the energy has been scattered by, or
emitted from the target, we require a sensor (remote - not in contact with the target) to collect
and record the electromagnetic radiation.
5. Transmission, Reception, and Processing (E) - the energy recorded by the sensor has
to be transmitted, often in electronic form, to a receiving and processing station where the data
are processed into an image (hardcopy and/or digital).

6. Interpretation and Analysis (F) - the processed image is interpreted, visually and/or
digitally or electronically, to extract information about the target which was illuminated.

7. Application (G) - the final element of the remote sensing process is achieved when we
apply the information we have been able to extract from the imagery about the target in order
to better understand it, reveal some new information, or assist in solving a particular problem.

Remote sensing divided in to Passive and Active remote sensing

 Passive remote sensing : Remote sensing systems which measure energy that is
naturally available are called passive sensors. Passive sensors can only be
used to detect energy when the naturally occurring energy is available. For all
reflected energy, this can only take place during the time when the sun is
illuminating the Earth.

 Active remote sensing : , on the other hand, provide their own energy source for
illumination. The sensor emits radiation which is directed toward the target to be
investigated. The radiation reflected from that target is detected and measured
by the sensor. Advantages for active sensors include the ability to obtain
measurements anytime, regardless of the time of day or season.

The methodology of this study was based on two approaches. The first was based on
GIS, where layers of lithology, drainage patterns and lineaments were used to derive
the most promising sites for groundwater exploration, (George, 1988) . Additionally,
data on water quality and quantity were used to verify sites for groundwater
exploration. The second part of the study was based on digital image processing (DIP) of
remote sensing data to identify the spectral class that was highly correlated with the
sites identified by the GIS tools. The first approach is based on the hypothesis that
lineaments and drainage patterns would be the most important factors for evaluating
the potential concentration of water in the fracture zone aquifer, while the second
approach was proposed as a rapid method with minimum inputs for groundwater
exploration. The following sections describe the methodology in more details.

. Data Collection and Preparation

Hard copy maps of geology, topography and hydrology, covering the study
area at a scale of 1:50,000, were acquired, scanned and geo-referenced in
GIS. A satellite image of Landsat 7 ETM+ covering study area, except a small
part in the east, was downloaded from the USGS website. The ETM+ imagery
data which were used in this study included the visible (1, 2 and 3), the
shortwave infrared (SWIR), the middle infrared (MIR) and the panchromatic
bands. The spatial resolutions for these bands were 30 m for the visible to
infrared and 15 m for the panchromatic. Geometric correction was carried
out for the image using ground control points (GCP’s) collected by a global
positioning system (GPS). In total, fifteen points were used to correct the
image using a second order transformation and the nearest neighbor
resampling method (mille, 1976).
A digital elevation model (DEM) at 30 m resolution, available from the data of
the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
(ASTER), was downloaded from the website of the provider (http://
[Link]/[Link]). The DEM was used to generate a layer of
streams network of the basin. The layer was overlaid over the geo-
referenced topographic maps in GIS to correct the positional shifts. Line
smoothing functions were also applied and manual editing was carried out
for some of the streams which were either incorrectly delineated or had
positional shifts. Data editing and improvement were also carried out for the
layer of lineaments features (faults) using the panchromatic band of the
ETM+, which was utilized to increase the details of this GIS layer.
Data on groundwater wells were obtained from the MWI. The data were
transferred into spreadsheets and included the coordinates of wells, salinity
of water and yield of well in cubic meters per hour (m 3/h). The yield was
classified into three intervals following the criteria of the MWI for
groundwater wells used in irrigation. The intervals were 35 m 3/h or less for
low, 35 - 70 m3/h for the medium and above 70 m 3/h for the high yield. The
spreadsheet was transferred into a point layer in GIS and included the
records for 560 wells.

Application of GIS
The output digital maps included layers of lineaments, stream (drainage)
network and lithological formations with all attributes associated with each
layer. Figure 2 shows the lineament map, produced from this stage, and
included all types of faults and strikes in the study area. The digital map of
lineament was analyzed within GIS to identify types of structures in relation
to ground water existence. Following this stage, all maps were raster zed to
derive count (per·km2) and length density (m/km2) for both lineaments and
stream network. Each of the output maps was reclassified into a new map
with ten equal intervals of count and density.
The map of wells was intersected with the density maps of lineaments and
drainage lines. The intersection results were then summarized in
spreadsheets to calculate percentages of wells within each density interval
of structure lines and drainage patterns. The same procedure of intersection
was applied to determine the number and percentage of wells in each
lithological unit. The intervals of count and density with maximum number of
wells and the units of lithology were intersected to identify possible sites for
groundwater exploration based on data of both medium and high yield wells.
The output sites were based on the existence of 50% of wells or more within
an interval or two for the medium and high yield groundwater wells. Wells
with high levels of water salinity were excluded from the analysis. The final
map was refined after considering altitudes, derived from the DEM, with
maximum occurrence of medium and high yield of groundwater wells.

Figure 2. Major geological structures, groundwater wells and direction of groundwater

movement in Al-Wala basin.

Application of Remote Sensing

The ETM+ imagery was transformed into three Principal Components (PC’s), known as
“Eigen Channels”, which accounted for all variations of the selected bands of the ETM+.
This was mainly performed to reduce data autocorrelation and dimensionality into fewer
interpretable bands [Lathewan, jesinde 1977). The unsupervised image classification
was then applied to the output PC’s using the Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis
Technique (ISODATA) clustering algorithm to group the ETM+ grey levels into fewer
classes, which were then identified in relation to lithological units using the existing
geological maps and field visits.
The overall accuracy of the classification was assessed through a confusion matrix by
comparing a number of random points of classified pixels with existing geological maps
and ground data. The output layer from the digital classification was intersected with
the layer of the promising sites of groundwater wells to identify the class where most of
these sites were located. The unsupervised classification was used as a rapid method
that would automatically identify all possible spectral classes that corresponded to
lithological formations in the study area. Therefore, results from DIP were intersected
with results from GIS analysis of layers of lineaments and streams to assess the degree
of agreement between the two methods.

Results and Discussion:

Lithology and Geological Structures

Results of intersecting the maps of wells and lithological formations are summarized
in Table 1. Results showed that less than 26% of the wells were distributed in the
fluviatile and lacustrine gravels, while about 19% of the wells in the study area existed
in Alluvium and surrounding Wadi sediments (Table 1).
The intersection results also showed that about 76% of wells in the above mentioned
formations were characterized by medium and high water yields. These results agreed
who found that most potentially excellent aquifers were found in valleys with thick sand
or gravels covers. results of this study also confirmed the findings who concluded that
wells with high yield were found in thick coarse grained alluvial materials (wessty,2000).
These formations were expected to act as conduits for groundwater from deep to
shallow aquifers. Therefore, most of the wells with good yield were found in these
formations.
Analysis of lithological formation showed that structure features were observed above
ground with considerable displacements found in Paleozoic formations. These were
totally or partially absent in Mesozoic or Cretaceous lithological formations. This could
be attributed to the stronger effect of stresses and faulting on older rock formations.
The stresses caused a deformation in the rock layers and produced geological
structures that were identified and mapped as lineaments on the ETM+ imagery.
Summary of the major fault in the study area is shown in Table 2.
In the study area, most sedimentary rocks had been deposited as horizontal strata. In
various parts of the study area, subsequent uplifting and tilting caused the strata to be
inclined. Furthermore, more than 70% of the main geologic structures were faults with
tics showing downthrows side, faults inferred beneath superficial deposits and
lineaments that were visible on the ETM+
Table 1. Lithostratigraphic units and formations of the study area with percentage wells
in each formation.
Table 2. Major fault groups in the study area.

Distribution of Wells within Count and Density Intervals

Results showed that wells with high yield were mainly located in the downstream area,
while wells with low and medium yields were distributed all over the study area (Figure
3). Results of intersecting wells with counts and densities of lineaments and streams are
presented in Table 3. In terms of lineaments count, wells were mainly found within the
intervals of low count. Although this was unexpected, however it could be attributed to
the fact that the lineaments count was already very low (less than 3.4 lineaments per
km2). On the other hand, the relationship between lineaments density and groundwater
wells showed that 50% of groundwater wells were located within the lowest density
interval. This could be explained by factor of topography, as many of the low and
medium yield wells were located in flat areas in the northern part of the study area
(Figure 3), where geological structures were not detected. In this part of the study area
slope was less than 2% which would promote water infiltration and groundwater
recharge (Nyothy G, 2014). In addition to topography, the high rainfall and the
lithological formations (Holocene-recent alluvial and wadi sediments) enhanced
groundwater recharge.
Although a considerable number of wells were found in the northern parts of the study
area, however, most of the wells were characterized by low or medium yield. The high
yield wells, on the other hand, were mainly within the moderate to high density of
lineaments in the middle parts of the study area or in the low lineament density in the
downstream area. In the middle parts of the study area, the high densities of
lineaments were acting as points of groundwater recharge. In both locations, 69% of the
wells were located in areas with an altitude of 650 - 750 m above sea level. None of the
wells with high yield, on the other hand, occurred in altitudes of more than 750 m. This
could be attributed to the direction of groundwater movement which was towards the
southwestern parts of the study area. Similar findings of the impacts of topography on
groundwater recharge were also indicated by ( Weety Y, 1988).
The combined impacts of topography, the high density of lineament and the alluvial
deposits resulted in the presence of high yield wells in the middle parts of the study
area around the main stream of the Area. These results agreed which indicated strong
relationships between lineament density and locations of groundwater wells. In this
study, none of the medium to high yield wells occurred in intervals that succeeded 5725
m/km2 (Interval 6) (Table 3).
Querying groundwater wells with the map of drainage density showed that most of the
groundwater wells were within the intervals of moderate drainage count and density
(Table 3). The medium yield wells were mainly located within interval 5, while the high
yield wells were mainly located within interval 4. Generally, drainage pattern is a
reflection of the infiltration/precipitation ratio. This ratio is also controlled largely by
permeability, which is in turn a function of the rock type and fracturing of the underlying
rock or surface bedrock. When comparing two terrain types, the one that contains the
greatest drainage density is usually less permeable. Therefore, this fact would imply
that in groundwater exploration it would be important to combine the lineament map
with drainage and lithological formations maps to identify the target sites of
groundwater exploration, as explained in the next section. By this, variations in
lithology, geologic history and response of bedrocks to stresses from folding to
fracturing would be considered in groundwater exploration.

Intersection of Maps for Identifying Promising Sites

Results of intersecting the intervals of lineament and drainage count and density with
the lithology and altitude are presented in Figure 4. The output of intersection presents
the locations of promising sites for groundwater exploration. The map includes two
classes that present medium and high probability sites based on the data of
groundwater wells.

Figure 3. Distribution of groundwater wells within the layers of lineament count (a);
lineament density (b); stream count (c) and stream density
Table 3. Percent of wells within the different intervals of lineament and stream counts
(per·km2) and densities (m/km2).

Figure 4. Locations of promising sites for groundwater exploration in Al-Wala based on

the intersection of lineaments, lithology, drainage and altitude
Results from this GIS approach showed that promising sites for groundwater exploration
were distributed in different parts of the study area. However, most of the high yield
sites were in the middle part of the study area on the main stream of Al-Wala. This part
of the study area, mainly located within the formations of the fluviatile and lacustrine
gravels (PI), was characterized by medium density of lineaments and streams, with
altitudes ranging between 680 to 710 m. A small area of high yield was predicted in the
southwestern part of the study area near Al-Wala dam. This area was classified as a
high yield site due to its lower altitude and its occurrence on alluvial deposits (PI) with
relatively moderate lineament densities (2863 - 3816 m/km 2).
The medium yield sites, on the other hand, were mainly distributed within the alluvium
and wadi sediments and at altitudes range of 750 - 850 m. In terms of areas, the high
yield sites had a total area of 26 km 2 while the medium yield sites had a total area of 50
km2. These figures represent 1.4% and 2.6% of the study area for both high and
medium yield sites, respectively.

Table 4 summarizes the final classes and the major lithological units represented by
each class. Classification accuracy varied from one class to another, with an overall
accuracy of 76%. The variation in class accuracy was mainly attributed to the spectral
mixing between classes and the accuracy of the original geologic maps.
Distribution of groundwater wells within the classified PC image (Table 4) showed that
about 28% of groundwater wells were mainly located within class 5, representing
alluvial formations and mapped with high accuracy. This figure was very close to results
obtained from map intersection within GIS, which showed that 30% of groundwater
wells were located within the alluvial formations.
Results showed that 71% and 52% of the promising sites for medium and high yield,
respectively, were located within class 5. Also, 65% of the alluvial formations were
located within this class. Therefore, outputs from digital classification would provide
important thematic layers that could serve the purpose of identifying promising sites for
groundwater exploration in basins similar to Al-Wala, particularly in locations where
digital layers of geology might not be available. Other factors and data, however, should
complement the DIP techniques. This was evident by the results of this study as the
outputs from the unsupervised classification were not related to promising locations in
the downstream area, where topography and lineament density were the main factors
in identifying promising sites for groundwater exploration.
Conclusions and Recommendations:

Results from this study showed the significant roles of GIS tools and remote sensing data in
identifying promising sites for groundwater exploration. The study provided an example that
integrated real data on groundwater quantity and quality to refine the selection of the target sites.
These data showed that sites with possible high yield were related to moderate intervals of
lineament and stream densities. The other important data that affected the spatial distribution of the
promising sites were lithology and topography. The study showed that GIS tools were very useful in
refining the intervals of lineament and stream densities and in identifying the most promising sites
based on data of existing groundwater well. Remote sensing data, on the other hand, could provide
important information on geology and topography. Therefore, these tools and data sources would be
recommended for groundwater exploration, as they would provide timely and cost effective tools for
identifying and narrowing the target areas for groundwater exploration before carrying out further
investigations.