A Geoinformatics-Based Comparative Study of Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approaches of Groundwater Potential Zoning in Ken Basin, India

The main purpose of this study was to determine the proficiency of the three multi-criterion decision-making approaches, namely analytical hierarchical process (AHP), multi influencing factor (MIF), and frequency ratio (FR) models for the assessment of groundwater potential zoning. In this study, geoinformatics techniques were taken into consideration for the assessment of groundwater potential zones in Ken Basin, India. Utilizing the available resource maps, climate data, satellite imagery, and published data were used to prepare eleven thematic layers that influence the groundwater potential of an area, such as geology, lithology, geomorphology, lineament density, land use/ land cover, soil texture, rainfall, slope, drainage density, depth to water level - pre monsoon and depth to water level - post monsoon. Based on prior knowledge and reviewed literature, weights were assigned to all the selected themes and their sub classes to execute MIF and AHP techniques. The FR model was accomplished by the calculation of the ratio between 'the percentage of observation wells in a class' to 'the percentage of an area in each class'. The resultant maps of groundwater potential were prepared by integrating all these thematic layers and their corresponding weightage in the GIS environment for AHP, MIF, and FR respectively. The constructed map has been classified into five different categories of groundwater potential zones, viz., Very Good, Good, Moderate, Poor, and Very Poor. Validation of the produced map depicted that the FR model is having higher accuracy (AUC = 79.5%) compared to the AHP techniques (AUC = 74.5%) and MIF (AUC = 72.0%). Based on this research, it is summarized that the FR model is a more reliable approach as compared to others for the assessment of groundwater potential zones. Also, the groundwater potential zoning maps prepared in this study will be helpful in forecasting, development, and groundwater management work in the Ken Basin.