Speaker
Description
Locating a potential groundwater exploitation point can be challenging, especially in the Voltaian formation of Ghana. The wet well success rate in the formation using current geophysical techniques has not been encouraging; it is under 50%. Remote sensing and GIS have proven to be valuable tools in hydrological analysis and groundwater studies elsewhere. This work aims to use remote sensing and GIS to supplement ground geophysical investigations for the selection of potential sites for groundwater exploitation in the Kintampo North Municipal and Kintampo South District areas. Individual thematic maps were generated using remote sensing techniques and GIS tools and ranked based on their influence on groundwater occurrence. The thematic maps were then weighted to create a groundwater potential map of the study area. The groundwater potential zones were classified into five groups, viz. Poor, Fair, Moderate, Good, and Very Good. About 52% of the study area falls within the Poor and Fair zone, 34% within the Good and Very Good region, and the rest in the moderate zone. The potential map was validated using the spatial distribution of existing boreholes sited using ground geophysical methods and their airlift yields. A good correlation was obtained between the predicted groundwater potential zones and the borehole yields. The results suggest that GIS and Remote Sensing can be integrated with geophysical surveys to maximize the wet well success rate in the Voltaian formation in Ghana.