Pa ge 1 Pa ge 15 American Journal of Geospatial Technology (AJGT) Geo-Spatial Assessment of Groundwater Potential Zones in Birnin-Kudu Local Government Area Jigawa State, Nigeria Nafi’u Umar Garba1*, Sawa Bulus Ajiya1, Tasi’u Yalwa Rilwanu2, Usman Dalhat1 Volume 2 Issue 1, Year 2022 ISSN: 2833-8006 (Online) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajgt.v2i1.2063 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Article Information ABSTRACT Received: August 27, 2023 Accepted: September 25, 2023 Published: October 02, 2023 The study attempted to identify the groundwater potential zones in Birnin Kudu Local Gov- ernment Area of Jigawa State, Nigeria using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System techniques. Groundwater is an important source for water supply, considering its availability, quality, cost and time effective to develop, and simple accessibility. The study used thematic maps like Rainfall, Lineament, Geology, Soil, DEM Soil, Drainage and Land Use Land Cover map as GIS layers in geo-database. The rankings/weights of factor contrib- uting to groundwater prospects in the study area were evaluated by pair wise comparison us- ing Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Weightages of the factors influencing groundwater prospects zones in the study area shows that rainfall is one of the major contributor, and was weighed as the highest contributor with (34%) followed by lineament (24%) and geology was weighed (14%). The least groundwater contributor in the study area is the land use land cov- er with (2%). The study showed that the very high groundwater potential areas occupy 59.92 km2 (2.89%) of the area, the high potential zones constitute about 527.52km2 (25.45%) of the study area and the moderate potential area has the highest area of 602.69km2 (29.07%). The low and very low potentials occupy an area of about 528.13 km2 (25.48%) and 354.75 km2 (17.11%) respectively. The study concluded that the study area has an abundance. Keywords AHP, Geographic Information System, Groundwater Potential Zone, Remote Sensing 1 Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Kaduna State, Nigeria 2 Department of Geography Bayero University, Kano State, Nigeria * Corresponding author’s e-mail: talk2nafiuumar@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Water is a chemical substance with a chemical formula H2O which can exist in different states as; solid, liquid and gaseous forms. Water covers 70.9% of the earth’s surface and it is vital for all known forms of life. On earth, water is found mostly in oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds and other surface water bodies (Rilwanu and Haruna, 2014). Groundwater is the water beneath the surface of the ground. In other words, it is the water that flows or collects beneath the earth’s surface. Groundwater originates from rainfall, melting snow and ice which infiltrates into the ground, percolates through porous rocks and stored in aquifers. Groundwater, being a hidden natural resource is not amenable to direct observations and hence, exploration or assessment of this vital resource plays a pivotal role in determining locations of water supply, monitoring wells and in controlling groundwater pollutions (Pandian and Jeyachandran, 2014). Aquifers, springs and wells are recharged by the flow of groundwater. Groundwater is regarded as a finite resource which is very essential for agriculture, industrial activities and human consumptions since its supply has a profound impact on the quality of life. Nowadays, about 34% of the world’s water resources belong to groundwater and is an important source of drinking water (Zeinolabedin and Esmaeily, 2015). Groundwater potentials in an area is controlled by many factors such as geology, geomorphology, climate, drainage, slope, depth of weathering, presence of fractures, surface water bodies, canals and irrigated fields amongst others (Stanley, 2017). Slope for example is one of the factors that control the rate of infiltration of rainwater into the subsurface and could therefore be used as an index of groundwater potential evaluation. On a gentle slope area the run-off is slow allowing more time for rain water to percolate, whereas steep slope areas facilitate high run-off allowing less residence time for rain water to percolate, hence comparatively less infiltrations (Stanley, 2017). Consequences of unsustainable and improper groundwater exploration are increasingly evident in several parts of the world due to ever-increasing population, urbanization, industrialization and intensified human activities (Pandian, and Jayachandran 2014). The main concern for groundwater assessment is to maintain groundwater supply on a long-term basis for a sustainable growth and development. The major sources of water in several parts of the developing worlds are taps, boreholes, hand pumps, open wells, streams and rivers. In the absence of available good and safe water sources, people begin to use unsafe sources and this resulted in some health problems. Increasing population and water scarcity have raised the importance of groundwater zones, as they are a major source of freshwater. Integrated remote sensing and GIS are widely used in groundwater mapping. Locating potential groundwater targets is becoming more convenient and cost effective with the advent of a number of satellite imageries. Remotely sensed based groundwater exploration has made it feasible to explore the areas with limited human access, for the wide visual range, short time cycle, and increasing spatial resolution (Huajie, et al 2016). Pa ge 16 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Am. J. Geo Spat. Technol. 2(1) 15-22, 2023 Geographic information systems (GIS) have emerged as powerful tools for handling spatial data and decision-making in several areas including engineering and environmental fields. Since the delineation of groundwater prospect zones involve a large volume of multidisciplinary data, an integrated application of RS and GIS techniques has become a valuable tool. Moreover, GIS has the ability to process multiple of data, which may reveal certain relationships and visualize different types of information simultaneously. In contrast, remote sensing (RS) technology, with its advantages of spatial, spectral and temporal availability of data covering large and inaccessible areas within a short time. GIS has been a very useful tool for the assessment, monitoring and management of groundwater resources in different parts of the world (Engman and Gurney 1991, Jha et al 2007). MATERIALS AND METHOD Study aim and Objectives The aim of this study is to assess the spatial variation of groundwater potential zones in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to: • Characterize the factors contributing to groundwater potentials in the study area; • Identify and map the groundwater potential zones in the study area, and • Analyze the spatial extent of groundwater potentials in the study area. Study Area The study area Birnin Kudu Local Government is located between Latitudes 11º 20′N to 11º39′ North of the equator and Longitudes 09º 10′E to 09º 40′ East of the Greenwich meridian. It covers area of about 2,073 square Kilometers. The main elevation of the plain surface of the area is between 400 - 420m above mean sea level. The total annual rainfall received ranges between 500-600mm in the region (Olofin 2008). The area is characterized by a long dry season which lasts on average of 8 months from October to April or May. The mean monthly temperature in the area ranges between 30°C and 35°C. The wet season mean annual temperature is about 25°C and diurnal range of about 10°C to 13°C. Relative humidity ranges from 80% in August to 23% between the month of January and March. The major rivers of the area are River Birnin Kudu, River Masaya and Kiyako (Murtala and Yazid, 2019). Figure 1: The Study Area (Birnin Kudu LGA) Source: Modified from Administrative Map of Nigeria. Data and Software Used Data used include remotely sensed data like Landsat 7 (ETM + 30m) image of Birnin Kudu and ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (DEM); other maps are geology, lineament, drainage density, soil map of the study area; and the rainfall data. Software used include ArcGIS 10.8, PCI Geomatica and Google Earth Pro. Data Processing Characterization of Factors Contributing to Groundwater Potential The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) introduced by Saaty (1980) was used to determine the weight of groundwater parameters by integrating the various thematic maps (layers) of the factors contributing to groundwater Pa ge 17 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Am. J. Geo Spat. Technol. 2(1) 15-22, 2023 potentials in the study area. AHP is an effective tool for dealing with complex decision making and may help the decision maker to set priorities and make the best decision without being biased. The AHP was used to characterize the zones into very good, good, moderate, low and very low. These zones were characterized based on the aquifer properties, soil type, geology and topography. Table 3.1 shows the processes involved in weight assignment using AHP and Table 3.2 shows weight for the factors according to Solomon (2003). Groundwater Potentials Zones Mapping Integration of the thematic maps of Rainfall, lineament, geology, slope, DEM, soil, Drainage density and LULC) was carried out in ArcGIS environment. The prediction model of groundwater potentials formulated by Hopkins (1977) for generating suitability maps was adopted. It is given as: GwP = DDw + Gw + Tw + SStw + Rw + SCw + LDw…Ow (1) Where; GwP = Groundwater potentials, DD = drainage density, Gw = Geology, T = Topography SS = Slope steepness, R = Rainfall, SC = soil and clay ratio, LD = Lineament density, w = weightage, O = other parameters. This was modified for the study as adopted by Mogaji, Aboyeji and Omosuyi (2011), Mary (2016) and Nasiru (2017). Groundwater Potential Zones Gwp= Rw+LDw+Gw+Sw+DEMw+Sw+DDw+LULCw where; Rw = Rainfall weight LDw = Lineament Density weight Gw = Geology weight Sw = Soil weight DEMw = DEM weight Sw = Soil weight DDw = Drainage Density weight LULCw = LULC weight Estimating Spatial Extent of Groundwater Potential Zones in the Study Area Each prospect zone from the groundwater potential zones map was converted individually to shape file in ArcGIS environment. Geometry calculator tool was used in calculating the areal extent of the various potentiality of the groundwater in the study area. The result is presented in a table. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The result from the Weights of the factors influencing groundwater prospects zones in the study area shows that rainfall is the major contributor, and weighed as the highest contributor with (34%) followed by lineament (24%) and geology was weighed (14%). The least groundwater contributor in the study area is the land use land cover with (2%). The study showed that the very high groundwater potential areas occupy 59.92 sq. km (2.89%) of the area, the high potential zones constitute about 527.52 sq. km (25.45%) of the study area and the moderate potential area has the highest area of 602.69 sq. km (29.07%). The low and very low potentials occupy an area of about 528.13 sq. km (25.48%) and 354.75 sq. km (17.11%) respectively. The very high and high groundwater potentiality are observed in Sundumina, Table 1: Procedure for Assigning Weightages in Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Scale Degree of Preference Explanation 1 Equal importance Two elements contributes equally to the objective 3 Moderate importance One Criterion is moderately important than the other. 5 Strong or essential importance One Criterion is strongly important than the other 7 Very strong importance One Criterion is extremely important than the other 9 Extreme importance One Criterion is extremely more important than the other. 2,4,6,8 Values for inverse comparison Can be used to express intermediate values Source: Saaty (1991) Table 2: Weights of all the Factors Influencing Groundwater Potentiality Rainfall Lineament Geology Slope DEM Soil Drainage LULC Weight Rainfall 1 3 3 4 5 6 7 9 34 Lineament 1/3 1 2 3 5 6 7 9 24 Geology 1/3 1/2 1 2 2 3 4 7 14 Slope 1/4 1/3 1/2 1 2 3 4 5 10 DEM 1/5 1/5 1/2 1/2 1 3 4 5 8 Soil 1/6 1/6 1/3 1/3 1/3 1 3 5 5 Drainage 1/7 1/7 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/3 1 3 3 LULC 1/9 1/9 1/7 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/3 1 2 Source: Author’s Analysis, 2023 Pa ge 18 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Am. J. Geo Spat. Technol. 2(1) 15-22, 2023 Figure 2: Rainfall Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Figure 3: Lineament Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Figure 4: Geology Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Figure 5: Geology Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Pa ge 19 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Am. J. Geo Spat. Technol. 2(1) 15-22, 2023 Figure 6: Rainfall Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Figure 7: Lineament Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Figure 8: Drainage Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Figure 9: Land use Land cover Map Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Pa ge 20 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Am. J. Geo Spat. Technol. 2(1) 15-22, 2023 Figure 10: Groundwater Potential Zones of Birnin Kudu L.G.A. Source: GIS Analysis, 2023 Table 3: Spatial Extent of Groundwater Potentials in the Study Area Groundwater Potential Zones Area in Sq. Km Percentage (%) Very High 59.92 2.89 High 527.52 25.45 Moderate 602.69 29.07 Low 528.13 25.48 Very Low 354.75 17.11 Total 2,073 100 Source: Author’s Analysis, 2023 Table 4: Weights of all the Groundwater Controlling Factors Factors Classes Factors Weight Individual Weights Potential Weight (%) Rainfall 750–760 0.34 0.04 Very Low 34 761–770 0.08 Low 771–780 0.14 Moderate 781–790 0.27 High 791–810 0.47 Very high Lineament 0 -19 0.24 0.03 Very Low 24 20 – 55 0.07 Low 56 – 91 0.11 Moderate 92 – 134 0.23 High 135 - 248 0.56 Very high Geology Sand Dunes over-Sandstone 0.14 0.38 Very Low 14 Aeolian sand over Alluvium 0.29 Low Pa ge 21 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Am. J. Geo Spat. Technol. 2(1) 15-22, 2023 Aeolian sands 0.25 Moderate Sand dunes over Sandstone 0.21 High Undifferentiated Basement Complex 0.13 Very high Slope 0 – 3 0.10 0.39 Very Low 10 4 – 7 0.30 Low 8 – 11 0.17 Moderate 12 – 15 0.09 High 16 – 17.3 0.04 Very high DEM 387 – 419 0.8 0.36 Very Low 8 420 – 451 0.28 Low 452 – 483 0.20 Moderate 484 – 515 0.12 High 516 – 550 0.04 Very high Soil Dystric Gleysol 0.5 0.38 Very High 5 Eutric Regosol 0.33 High Eutric Cambisol 0.29 Marginally High Eutric Fluvisol 0.26 Moderate Dystric Nitosol 0.21 Marginally Low Orthic Aerisol 0.13 Low Gleyic Regosol 0.04 Very Low Drainage 0 – 28 0.3 0.04 Very Low 3 29 – 83 0.12 Low 84 – 134 0.20 Moderate 135 – 184 0.29 High 185 – 296 0.36 Very high LULC Water body 0. 2 0.33 Very High 2 Vegetation 0.26 High Bare land 0.19 Marginally High Built-up Land 0.11 Moderate Rock Outcrop 0.1 Marginally Low 0.01 Low Source: Author’s Analysis, 2023 Unguwar ‘Ya and some part of Yalwan Damai, which could be attributed to the fact that the area receives high amount of rainfall, lie on low elevated land in the central area also highly vegetated. The Moderate areas are Birninin Kudu, Kangire, Kantoga, Lafia and some parts of Kwangwara which are more urbanized and this could attributed with run-off as a result of urbanization. While Wurno, Kiyako and Surko and some parts of Kwangwara are of low and very low potential areas. The study has shown the spatial variability of ground water potential in the study area. The variability closely followed variability in the Rainfall, Lineament, Geology, Slope, DEM, Soil, Drainage and LULC in the study area. Based on the findings, most promising groundwater potential zone in the area is related to high rainfall, low slope and high lineament density. Most of the zones with low to very low groundwater potential lie far from lineaments. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the groundwater potential zones have been derived for the entire Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State and classified into five categories namely very high, high, moderate, low and very low potentials. It is observed from the study that the very good groundwater potential zones are located in the Northern part of the study area. It was established from the findings that the study area has abundance of groundwater potential which can sufficiently take care of the domestic needs of water supply for its populace. The groundwater potential zones mapping using remote sensing and GIS techniques is a rapid, inexpensive, accurate with a large areal coverage. Thus, it provides range by which the most prospects zones within an area in which groundwater occurrence is expected. Hence, narrowing down the quest and site locations for boreholes and wells will reduce unnecessary work, saves Pa ge 22 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajgt Am. J. Geo Spat. Technol. 2(1) 15-22, 2023 time and cost. Therefore, borehole/well drilling activities in the study area should consult this study finding before commencing their work. REFERENCES Duan, H., Deng, Z., Deng, F., & Wang, D. (2016). 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