Evaluation and clustering maps of ground water wells in the red beds of Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Abstract

Since the start of the 21st century, ground water wells have been placed in red beds to solve the problem of scarce water resources in Southwest China and have rapidly expanded to other areas. By providing examples of cartography in Chengdu and Sichuan, China, and using the locations of ground water in fractures and pores when monitoring and managing red sandstone and mudstone wells, a series of maps of ground water wells at different scales in the red beds of Chengdu was obtained. Most of the wells located in red beds are located in Jintang, Dayi, and Qingbaijiang and exhibit different cluster features. The kernel density estimation and spatial cluster analysis classification methods were used based on the Density Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise algorithm (DBSCAN) in three concentrated areas. This method describes the trends of the clustering results and the relationships between the locations of residents and red bed wells. The cartography results show that the ground water wells in red beds are mainly distributed in hilly areas and partially correspond with the locations of villages and settlements, particularly their geological and topographic factors, which satisfy the maximum requirements of water use and recycling in Southwest China. The irrigation wells located in red beds are not only reliable and efficient but also replace inefficient water resources in the recharge-runoff-discharge groundwater process, which promotes the sustainable development of groundwater resources.