Application of Remote Sensing and GIS for delineating groundwater recharge potential zones of Islamabad using Influence Factor technique
Water scarcity is a major global issue and is continuously increasing. Groundwater continues to serve as the best option for drinkable and residential water needs. Half of the drinkable water across the globe is groundwater. This study aims to use an integrated approach of Remote Sensing (RS) and Ge
2025-06-28 16:25:08 - Adil Khan
Application of Remote Sensing and GIS for delineating groundwater recharge potential zones of Islamabad using Influence Factor technique
Project Area of Specialization Information & Communication TechnologyProject SummaryWater scarcity is a major global issue and is continuously increasing. Groundwater continues to serve as the best option for drinkable and residential water needs. Half of the drinkable water across the globe is groundwater. This study aims to use an integrated approach of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) for delineating groundwater recharge potential zones of Islamabad. Islamabad serves as the Federal Capital of Pakistan and is home to 1.12 million people with a population growth rate of 4. 9%. Statistically, Pakistan is yet to face severe water scarcity by the end of year 2025. Being the 4th great nation to rely on groundwater for most domestic and agricultural needs, definite steps need to be ensured for continuous supply of groundwater and elevation of groundwater table in Pakistan specifically Islamabad (Federal Capital of Pakistan). Multiple contributing factors will be considered in this study for groundwater potential zone recharge. These include Drainage Distance, Profile Curvature, Distance to fault, Plan Curvature, Aspect, Drainage Density, Lithology, Slope Length, Elevation, TWI, Soil, Fault Density, Land Use, Slope, Rainfall, and Well Data. Selection of contributing factor will be based on the past literature and expert analysis. Directly influencing factors such as rainfall and slope will be given higher weightages while appropriate weightages will be assigned to all other factors. The Survey of Pakistan toposheets for each of the contributing factor will be used for making Thematic Maps. The imagery will be visually interpreted and will be converted into Rastor form for GIS software integration. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM data on a global scale will be used for Topographical analysis. Suitable Weightage Factors will be assigned to each factor afterwards. Weightage Overlay Analysis will be performed and appropriate rankings will be assigned with Influence Factor technique. Spatial Analysis tool in Arc GIS 9.3 will be used to process Thematic maps. Thematic layers will be produced for contributing factors with the Remotely Sensed data under assigned weightages. These thematic layers will be processed with the GIS software to come up with a final thematic map that highlights the potential recharge zones.
Project ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to address the water scarcity in Federal Capital of Pakistan and provide solution in terms of groundwater recharge zones identification. Groundwater potential zone recharge is a way of planning and rectifying existing means and infrastructure for Groundwater extraction and management in order to safely overcome any upcoming water scarcity and to develop the necessary structures in order to meet water demands. Potential zone mapping is a key for future development, helping concerned authorities with meeting water demand for expanded residential and commercial zones. Consideration of 16 different factors using Influence Factor technique inhibits the error to a much lower degree thus providing a diversely produced thematic map. The declaration of scores and rankings to each of the factor eliminates the risk of biased output. Classification based thematic mapping will provide the final thematic map in the form of regions with their listed recharge potential. Integrated use of Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing with Influence Factor technique hinders the uncertainty in the results. This integrated approach will help the concerned authorities with their evaluation, modification and expansion of land-use. Altogether, the thematic mapping of the Islamabad based upon the groundwater potential zone recharge would pave way for the concerned authorities to better manage, monitor and scale for the Groundwater demand and stay updated with ever increasing groundwater needs.
Project Implementation MethodMultiple contributing factors will be considered for Groundwater potential zone recharge including Drainage Distance, Profile Curvature, Distance to fault, Plan Curvature, Aspect, Drainage Density, Lithology, Slope Length, Elevation, TWI, Soil, Fault Density, Land Use, Slope, Rainfall, and Well Data. Survey toposheets of each of the 16 contributory factors will be used to prepare the thematic maps. Thematic maps will be subjected to visual interpretation and coloring, texture size and captions would be adequately and distinguishably placed among each of the thematic map. In order to be processed accordingly by the Geographical Information Software, the thematic maps will be converted into Rastor form and will be fed to the software. Topographical survey of the entire area will be performed with the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission [SRTM] on a global scale. In order for the thematic maps to be processed accordingly and being compared for their influence on the final thematic map, suitable weightages will be assigned. These weightages will be numeric values ranging 1 to 5 for each of the thematic map. Analysis will be performed through Weightage Overlay approach and Spatial Analysis Tool. Further, Influence Factor (IF) technique will be used to assign rankings. The separately prepared thematic maps of contributing factors will be subjected to Spatial Analysis tool in Arc GIS 9.3. The delivered thematic layers will be processed by the GIS software to prepare a final thematic map.
Benefits of the ProjectThematic mapping for recharge zones will provide key insights towards the Groundwater flow and presence, ultimately leading to a better management and utilization planning for groundwater in Islamabad, Pakistan. GIS Based evaluation with the survey topographic sheets provides key insights to numerous geological and hydrological characteristics. Key impacting facts can be subjected to selective treatment for better planning and management for Groundwater in Islamabad. Artificial structures could be deployed for meeting the ground water demand and to pave way for the Groundwater to systematically flow towards the region of lower concentration via application of excavation. Further, GIS based evaluation will uncover hydrological features of the entire area leading to a diversely produced final thematic map. Selection of wide range of factors provide key insights for any subjective treatment for meeting the water demand or dealing with water scarcity. The increased strain over the groundwater is mainly due to the increase in the population. The population and groundwater consumption is linked directly and is impacted heavily by increase in population. Long term neglect leaves a lowered water table and unable to meet the Groundwater demands. Thematic mapping with GIS uncovers the potential of the area with respect to groundwater recharge can help Islamabad with future buildup, existing means and avoiding water scarcity.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableFollowing deliverables will be provided throughout the study:
Contributing Factor Selection
Groundwater is impacted by a number of hydrological characteristics of an area. Past publications will be consulted to come up with a wide range of contributing factors. The relationships between these factors and their impact on Groundwater recharge will be assessed and a criteria will be established for the finalizing of the relevant contributing factors. With means of expert analysis and literature review, the impact of each factor on the outcome will be assessed and shortening of the list will be performed. Only the factors rendered to be coherent with the past publications and expert analysis will be considered.
Thematic Layering of Factors
Survey Topographic sheets of these factors will be extracted from Survey of Pakistan. Visual interpretation of the sheets will be performed and the data will be converted to Rastor form for integration within the GIS system. Thematic maps will be made by the use of GIS software. These thematic maps will be subjected to texture, coloring, size and captioning appropriately in order to be processed accordingly. These thematic maps will be further processed by use of IF technique.
Weightage and Ranking Assigning:
Weightages relevant to the contributing factors will be assigned. These weightages are numerical values ranging from 1 to 5 and are in accordance with the Influence Factor (IF) technique. Serving as a numerical measure for an influence on the outcome from the single contributory factor, these process the layers of Thematic Map accordingly. Spatial Analysis Tool of ArcGIS will be used to further process the thematic maps consisting of numerical ranking beings assigned for processing.
Processing of Layers With GIS
Spatial analysis Tool of ArcGIS will be used to process the thematic maps consisting of assigned weightages and scores. These thematic maps will be processed within the software in reference to their contributions to the final thematic map. The IF technique based assigned scores will be used by the system to process the final map with collective contribution from the selected contributing factors.
Final Thematic Map Listing Potential Recharge Zones
The GIS system will return output in the form of a thematic map listing the potential zones that can lead to groundwater recharge. These zones will be colored differently in order to differentiate their influence on the Groundwater recharge. Entire area of Islamabad will be distributed on the basis of its potential to lead towards the groundwater recharge with five different classifications being Poor, Low, Medium, High and Best.
Final Deliverable of the Project Software SystemCore Industry ITOther IndustriesCore Technology Clean TechOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Clean Water and SanitationRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 80000 | |||
| PC with LCD | Equipment | 1 | 70000 | 70000 |
| Local Travel | Miscellaneous | 1 | 10000 | 10000 |