Article: “Groundwater Potential Mapping Using Remote Sensing and GIS-Based Machine

Learning Techniques”
Summary
This article focuses on using remote sensing and a machine learning model to map groundwater.
According to the author of this article, “groundwater is a good water asset because it can
consistently supply the required amount of high-quality water, therefore, appropriate water
conservation plans are required for the long-term use of groundwater”. Excessive water
availability and inappropriate water supply are the main causes of groundwater decline in many
areas. To improve energy use and proper planning of groundwater resources, precise
measurement and estimation of groundwater recharge must be carried out.

Groundwater yield is influenced by local geological, topographic, and anthropogenic factors, as

well as groundwater potential. Groundwater is more difficult to access than surface water.
Gravity anomalies can be used to infer groundwater. Groundwater potential maps are critical for
regional groundwater management, and groundwater resource prediction has previously been
restricted to local levels based on information from point data.

A variety of techniques, such as direct drilling for hydrological testing and geophysical designs
for groundwater potential mapping, have been used to tackle the limitations of groundwater
resource studies based on local provided information. In conjunction with various machine
learning techniques, remote sensing has been used to predict the global availability of water
resources. In environmental, geophysical, and hydrological studies, GIS innovations have been
used to perform quantitative analysis. Without proper training samples, the results of
groundwater potential mapping by modeling show poor generalizability. In such cases, the
training information accuracy is higher, but the test significantly show lower results. Robust
models techniques on basic models have been introduced and compared to resolve the lack of
data.

In this research, groundwater yield potential was mapped and tested using a classifier model of
decision tree-based machine learning techniques and a geographic information system (GIS) in
Yangpyeong-gun, South Korea. Remote sensing was used to derive topographical, geological,
hydrological, land cover, and other factors for groundwater potential modeling in this study. The
receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to measure the performance of the BCT and
FR-BCT models. Ground control point measurements obtained through digital aerial
photographs and ground studies were used to structure spatial data like location and topography.
To create the map, aerial photos were analyzed using numerical mapping, and further
measurement was done using field surveys. The contributions of individual groundwater control
factors were measured using BCT and FR-BCT models, which revealed that soil was the most
influential factor. In areas where data is limited, the machine learning methods used in this
research demonstrated excellent mapping of groundwater potential.

The findings were found to be useful in supporting detailed groundwater exploration and
underground water recharge monitoring. The methodology for this study can be applied to other
groundwater-dependent areas. Managers and decision-makers can accurately evaluate
groundwater potential technical aptitude to maximize management benefits, according to the
authors. However, more testing in other more research areas is needed to see how well the
proposed ensemble technique accurately reflects groundwater-potential.