RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Assessing Recharge Zones for Groundwater Potential in Dera Ismail Khan (Pakistan): A GIS-Based Analytical Hierarchy Process Approach
A1 Tabassum, Anwaar
A1 Sajjad, Asif
A1 Sajid, Ghayas Haider
A1 Ahmad, Mahtab
A1 Iqbal, Mazhar
A1 Khan, Aqib Hassan Ali
K1 Groundwater potential zones (GWPZs)
K1 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
K1 Analytical hierarchy process (AHP)
K1 Hydrological remote sensing
K1 Water resource monitoring
K1 Sistemas de información geográfica
K1 Geographic information systems
K1 Gestión del agua
K1 Water resources development
AB Groundwater constitutes the primary source of liquid freshwater on Earth and isessential for ecosystems, agriculture, and human consumption. However, rising demand,urbanization, and climate change have intensified groundwater depletion, particularlyin semi-arid regions. Therefore, assessing groundwater recharge zones is essential forsustainable water resource management in vulnerable areas such as Dera Ismail Khan,Pakistan. This study aims to delineate groundwater potential zones (GWPZs), using anintegrated approach combining the Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing(RS), and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Twelve factors were identified in astudy conducted using GIS-based AHP to determine the groundwater recharge zonesin the region. These include land use/land cover (LULC), rainfall, drainage density,soil type, slope, road density, water table depth, and remote sensing indices such asNormalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index(NDBI), Moisture Stress Index (MSI), Worldview Water Index (WVWI), and Land SurfaceTemperature (LST). The results show that 17.52% and 2.03% of the area have “good” and“very good” potential for groundwater recharge, respectively, while 48.63% of the areahas “moderate” potential. Furthermore, gentle slopes (0–2.471◦), high drainage density,shallow water depths (20–94 m), and densely vegetated areas (with a high NDVI) areconsidered important influencing factors for groundwater recharge. Conversely, areas withsteep slopes, high temperatures, and dense built-up areas showed “poor” potential forrecharge. This approach demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating advanced remotesensing indices with the AHP model in a semi-arid context, validated through high-accuracyfield data (Kappa = 0.93). This methodology offers a cost-effective decision support tool forsustainable groundwater planning in similar environments
PB MDPI
YR 2025
FD 2025-06
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11772
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11772
LA eng
NO The authors gratefully acknowledge the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for providing the data used in this study, accessed via http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ on 15 December 2024. We also express our sincere thanks to the University Research Fund (URF) of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, for the partial financial support of this research
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos
RD 20-ago-2026