Integration of different influencing factors in GIS to delineate groundwater potential areas using IF and FR techniques: a study of Pravara basin, Maharashtra, India

Abstract In the present days, remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques are comprehensive tools for the assessment of water resource, its management and conservation. In this study, remote sensing and GIS techniques are taken into consideration for zonation of different groundwater prospects of Pravara basin. Several contributing factors in which groundwater potential of an area entirely or partially depends such as lithology, geomorphology, slope, soil, lineament density, drainage density, land use and rainfall are assessed individually as well as together for making the different groundwater prospect maps through influencing factor (IF) and frequency ratio (FR) techniques. In ArcGIS software, all these thematic layers are prepared using different satellite imageries and conventional data sets, obtained from different sources. All these layers are transformed into high-resolution raster format and meshed together in GIS environment using IF and FR methods. Groundwater prospect maps are constructed as a result of overlay analysis. Based on the constructed map of groundwater prospect zones, as a result of this study, the study area is divided into five categories of different groundwater potential zones: very high, high, moderate, low and very low. Validation of the resultant maps has shown that frequency ratio technique is having higher accuracy (AUC = 73%) compared to the influencing factors (AUC = 69%). The present study of groundwater zonation provides a simple and less time-consuming technique; also, the results can directly be used for planning and sustainable management in Pravara basin.