Delineation of Groundwater, Drought and Flood Potential Zone Using Weighted Index Overlay Analysis and GIS for District Patna, Bihar, India

Abstract

For groundwater evaluation, delineation, discovery, and resource management in drought and flood zones, the geographical information system (GIS) has a wide range of uses. For the study area, various thematic layers were prepared, such as a digital elevation map (DEM), geomorphology, LULC, soil, drainage density, precipitation, and slope. The thematic layers were combined using the WIOA technique. The possible areas for groundwater have been demarcated into four zones: 1-poor, 2-moderate, 3-good, and 4-very good. In the eastern parts of the district, very strong (GWPZs) were found, while in the west and mid regions, moderate and bad categories were found. Drought and flood potential danger areas were divided into four zones: 1-no risk, 2-low risk, 3-moderate risk, and 4-high risk. In the middle part of the region, there was a higher risk of drought and a reduced risk of flooding in the eastern part of the area, an elevated risk of flooding in the eastern part of the area, and a lower to no risk of flooding in the western and central regions. The groundwater, drought, and flood potential zonation map built in the present study will be useful for scholars, and implementers in exploring appropriate water exploration locations and implementing resource utilization.

Keywords

• flood and drought zones, gis, gwpzs, weighted index overlay analysis