Delineation of potential groundwater recharge zones plays a vital role in sustainable management of groundwater resources. The present study is carried out to identify the groundwater potential recharge zones in Multan, Pakistan by using Remote Sensing (RS) & Geographical Information System (GIS) for augmenting groundwater resources. In Multan district (Punjab, Pakistan), the increasing population and expansion of land use for agriculture have severely exploited the regional ground water resources. Land Use Land Cover (LULC) change is an accelerating phenomenon on the surface of earth driven by anthropogenic activities including urban expansion, deforestation, and climatic variations. Intensive pumping has resulted in a rapid decline in the level of water table as well as its quality. Better management practices and artificial recharge are needed for the development of sustainable groundwater resources. In order to address these issues Geographic information system (GIS) and Remote sensing (RS) are the most efficient methods for the identification and detection of Land Use patterns. All of these techniques are used for mapping and identification of groundwater potential analysis. This groundwater potential information will be useful for the effective identification of appropriate locations for extraction of water. This study should be done to delineate groundwater potential recharge zones by using different thematic layers that were overlaid in ArcGIS. In the overlay analysis, the weights (for various thematic layers) are allocated based on a review of published literature or by expert opinion. The assigned weights are then normalized and modified using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). The potential recharge map thus obtained and divided into four zones (poor, moderate, good, and very good) based on their influence to groundwater recharge.

1. A
PRESENTATION
On
IDENTIFICATION OF GROUNDWATER POTENTIAL ZONES USING REMOTE SENSING
AND GIS TECHNIQUES IN MULTAN DISTRICT
Presented By:
Muhammad Qasim
Guided By:
Dr. H. Umar Farid
Department of Agricultural Engineering
Bahaudin Zakariya University, Multan

2. INTRODUCTION
Ground water is a surface water that seeps into ground through a process called infiltration. About 71% of the earth is filled
with water out of which ocean water covers 97.6% of the total water so only 1.7% of the freshwater available is groundwater.
Delineation of potential groundwater recharge zones plays a vital role in sustainable management of groundwater resources.
The present study is carried out to identify the groundwater potential recharge zones in Multan district, Pakistan by using
Remote Sensing (RS) & Geographical Information System (GIS) for augmenting groundwater resources. In Multan district
(Punjab, Pakistan), the increasing population and expansion of land use for agriculture have severely exploited the regional
ground water resources. Land Use Land Cover (LULC) change is an accelerating phenomenon on the surface of earth driven
by anthropogenic activities including urban expansion, deforestation, and climatic variations. Intensive pumping has resulted
in a rapid decline in the level of water table as well as its quality.
Better management practices and artificial recharge are needed for the development of sustainable groundwater resources. In
order to address these issues Geographic information system (GIS) and Remote sensing (RS) are the most efficient methods
for the identification and detection of Land Use patterns. All of these techniques are used for mapping and identification of
groundwater potential analysis. This groundwater potential information will be useful for the effective identification of
appropriate locations for extraction of water.
This study should be done to delineate groundwater potential recharge zones by using different thematic layers that were
overlaid in ArcGIS. In the overlay analysis, the weights (for various thematic layers) are allocated based on a review of
published literature or by expert opinion. The assigned weights are then normalized and modified using the analytical
hierarchical process (AHP). The potential recharge map thus obtained and divided into four zones (poor, moderate, good, and
very good) based on their influence to groundwater recharge.

3. AIM AND OBJECTIVES
AIM:
To determine groundwater potential zones of Multan district using Remote sensing techniques & ArcGIS
software.
OBJECTIVES:
1. To develop thematic maps of drainage density, lineament density, geology, soil texture, Rainfall, slope and land
use land cover.
2. To delineate groundwater potential zones and to study groundwater potential information usefulness for
effective identification of suitable locations for extraction of water.

4. PROBLEM STATEMENT
Groundwater is a major and most valuable natural source for irrigation, drinking, and other purposes such as
maintaining aquatic ecosystems, as well as the well-being of human civilizations. However, population growth and
the expansion of agricultural lands has mounted increasing pressure on groundwater resources, resulting in their
overexploitation as well as a deteriorating in water quality. In Pakistan, the 2–3 m annual decline of the water table is
due to continuous pumping of fresh aquifers to meet domestic and agriculture-related water demands. Much of the
area under cultivation in the Punjab province of Pakistan is irrigated using groundwater withdrawn from dug wells
and tube wells. As the aquifer is unconfined in nature, the increasing population and other anthropogenic activities
pose an environmental risk. So, a careful assessment of the groundwater aquifer system is essential for its
sustainable management. Potential groundwater recharge mapping can assist water resource managers to make better
management plans.

5. STUDYAREA
The study area is Multan district which is one of the largest district of Pakistan. The district of Multan is spread over
an area of 3,721 square kilometers. The district consists of tehsils of Multan saddar, Multan city, Jalalpur Pirwala
and Shujabad. Multan District is surrounded by the Khanewal to the North and North East, the Vehari to the East
and Lodhran to the South. The Chenab River passes on its Western side, across which lies Muzaffargarh. It extends
between longitude 70E-71E and latitude 30N-31N. Multan is among the more fertile district of Pakistan and is rich
in groundwater resources. Multan is an important agricultural, industrial and tourist center. Wheat, cotton and
sugarcane are the main crops grown in the district. Moreover, rice, maize, tobacco, bajra, moong (lentils), mash
(lentils), masoor (lentils), oil seed such as rapeseed, mustard and sunflower are also grown in minor quantities in the
district.

8. METHODOLOGY

9. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
For identification of groundwater potential zones firstly we need to find the factors
that are going to affect the groundwater potential zones.
Factors affecting groundwater potential zones are;
1. Slope:
Slope is the rate of change of elevation. It determines the gravity effect on the water
movement. The amount of water available for recharge and the roughness of the
terrain of any watershed is described by the slope of that watershed. Slope is one of
the influential factors affecting runoff and infiltration rate. Slope map was obtained
from DEM data and integrating this data by using tool ‘Slope’ in ARC GIS.

10. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
2. Drainage Density:
Drainage density is defined as the closeness of spacing of stream channels. It is inverse function
of permeability and thus indirectly indicates the suitability for groundwater recharge of an area.
The drainage density map of the study area was prepared using the data of Digital Elevation
Model (DEM) and further integrating this data by using ‘line density analysis’ tool in ArcGIS.
The drainage density, expressed in terms of length of channels per unit area (km/ km2).

11. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3. Lineament Density:
Lineament represents zones of faulting and fracturing resulting in increased
permeability. They act as pathways for groundwater movement. Areas with high
lineament density are good for groundwater potential. For creating lineament density
map I first created various hillshade effects so that I could able to see the fractures in
the study area. The lineament density map of ‘Multan District’ was prepared by using
‘line density analysis’ tool in ArcGIS. The purpose of the lineament analysis is to
improve understanding of the relationship between the surface water penetration and
fracture systems, controlling water infiltration and mobility. The Lineament density,
expressed in units of (km/ km2).

12. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4. Land use/Land Cover:
Land use refers to human’s activities on land, various uses which are carried out on
land. While land cover denotes natural vegetation, water bodies etc. Land use/Land
cover affects evapotranspiration volume, timing and recharge of groundwater. Landsat
9 two images was taken from glovis usgs at path 150 and row 39 & 40 and then un-
supervised classification is done by using tool ‘Iso cluster unsupervised classification’
in Arc gis.

13. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4. Rainfall:
Rainfall is the most dominant influencing factor in groundwater recharge. It determines the
amount of water that would be available to percolate into the groundwater system. Annual
rainfall data for 2009–2022 was collected from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU), USGS
and a map of annual rainfall was prepared using the ordinary ‘Kriging interpolation
technique’ in ArcGIS. Rainfall map is an important map in delineating groundwater potential
recharge zones, because rainfall is the major source of water which can contributing the
major portion of recharging of groundwater.

14. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
6. Soil Texture:
Groundwater recharge potentiality is directly related to porosity and permeability of the
soil media; higher permeability of soil media leads to an increased potential for
groundwater recharge. Permeability of soil media is depend upon the soil texture present
in the study area e.g. Clay soil has less permeability as well as low infiltration rate,
although sandy soil has high permeability range as well as high infiltration rate. A map of
soil texture was prepared from soil type data collected from the FAO Digital Soil Map of
the World (DSMW) and by further extraction of Area of Interest (AOI) from (DSMW).

15. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
6. Geology:
Groundwater potential is highly determined by the occurrences of lithological
features. Lithological features present in the study area controls infiltration rate,
movement, and storage of water. The water bearing vary from one rock type to another
rock type. A map of geology was prepared by collecting the data from ‘World
Geologic Maps’ and by further extraction of study area by using tool ‘Extract by
Mask’ in Arc gis.

16. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Assessment of Groundwater Potential Zones:
The weights are assigned to these thematic maps according to the influence of these maps on
groundwater. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is widely applied in the allocation of
weights to different thematic layers. After assigning weights to these thematic layers these
maps are overlaid by using a process called overlay analysis. The overlay analysis process
can be done by using GIS tool named as “Weighted Overlay”.
The final map obtained after performing weighted overlay analysis is categorized into four
divisions depicting the groundwater potential zones namely;
 Poor
 Fair
 Good
 Excellent
According the produced map we can see that most of the area of Multan district has fair
groundwater potential zones. Also the upper north area of Multan district has good
groundwater potential zones. Other two classes of poor and excellent groundwater potential
zones has covered a very minor area as we see on the map.