Geospatial delineation and mapping of groundwater potential in Embu County, Kenya


Submitted: 18 December 2018
Accepted: 30 March 2019
Published: 15 May 2019
Abstract Views: 1775
PDF: 713
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • Mary Christine Chepchumba Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Engineering (SWEE), Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya.
  • James M. Raude Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Engineering (SWEE), Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya.
  • Joseph K. Sang Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Engineering (SWEE), Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya.

Integration of Remote Sensing (RS) and the Geographical Information System (GIS) approaches in the field of groundwater resources management is a breakthrough. The RS and GIS geospatial approaches can enhance the assessment, monitoring, and conservation of groundwater resources. In this study, RS and GIS geospatial techniques were applied with the aim of identifying groundwater potential zones in Embu County, Kenya, based on selected multi influencing factors. Lineament layer was obtained by processing Landsat 8 ETM+ image using Principal Component Analysis in ENVI®4.7 and automatic extraction from Principal Component Image using the LINE module in Geomatica software. The resultant groundwater potential map showed that approximately 78% of the total area ranged from ‘high' to ‘very high' zones indicating that almost half of the study area has good groundwater potential. About 20% showed moderate potential while only 2% fell under the low potential zone. The proposed study approach can be used as a new way of modeling geospatial data for identification and mapping of groundwater potential zones. The study findings are useful to first-hand information planners and local authorities for assessment, planning, management and administration of groundwater resources in Embu County.


Chepchumba, M. C., Raude, J. M., & Sang, J. K. (2019). Geospatial delineation and mapping of groundwater potential in Embu County, Kenya. Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.7343/as-2019-369

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations