An approach to demarcate groundwater recharge potential zone using geospatial technology

With the increasing demands for water due to growing population, urban expansion, agricultural development and groundwater resources are gaining much attention, particularly in Gopiballavpur block, Paschim Medinipur district (West Bengal, India). Present study used cohesive approach of remote sensing and geographic information system to deliver an appropriate platform for convergent study of multi-disciplinary data and decision building for artificial groundwater recharge. Thematic maps were generated from Landsat8-Operational land Imager (OLI) and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM), and aquifer parameter thematic layers were organized from conventional field data. The weighted linear combination method was used to determine the weights of various themes and their classes, namely ‘very good’, ‘good’, ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ for identifying recharge potential zone. It has been concluded that 14.58% area has very good groundwater recharge potentiality of the study area. The area having ‘good’, ‘moderate’ and ‘low’ recharge potential is about 32.77%, 39.67% and 12.98%, respectively.