Mapping of Groundwater Potential Zone Using GIS and Remote Sensing of Shwan Sub-Basin, Kirkuk, NE Iraq

Abstract

The groundwater is an intrinsic and vital capital for providing water supplies in rural and urban areas. Climate change poses a strong threat to the world; especially in Iraq is considering one of the arid and semi-arid regions. The climatic changes lead to an increase in the demand for groundwater, especially with low rainfall and an increase in the population. It is very important to model groundwater potential for the sub-basin. This paper aims to produce a map defining the potential groundwater zones of the Shwan sub-basin. By Geographic Information System and remote sensing data, the required data or six factors (geology, elevations, slope, drainage density, soil, and land uses/land covers) are available to be collected through weighted overlay for creating groundwater potential map. The result was five zones for groundwater potential from very low towards the eastern parts and also end of the western boundary to very high towards the western parts of the sub-basin. The geological formations of the sub-basin such as conglomerate, low elevations, low slope and low drainage density consider as high groundwater potential zones.