HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108

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HydroResearch

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Delineation of groundwater potential zones in semi-arid region of

Jilledubanderu river basin, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India
using fuzzy logic, AHP and integrated fuzzy-AHP approaches
M. Rajasekhar a, G. Sudarsana Raju a,⁎, Y. Sreenivasulu b, R. Siddi Raju a
a
Dept. of Geology, Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh 516005, India
b
Dept.of Humanities, SSL, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632014, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Increasing urbanization and the population's demand for water shortages in urban and rural areas leads to a de-
Received 12 September 2019 cline in groundwater resources, to the need to plan artificial groundwater recharge. This study shows the ability
Received in revised form 7 November 2019 of three decision-making approaches, namely fuzzy logic (FL), analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and integrated
Accepted 18 November 2019
Fuzzy-AHP techniques in groundwater potentiality mapping. A total eight parameters such as geology, geomor-
Available online 26 November 2019
phology (GM) landuse/landcover (LULC), soil types, drainage density (DD), water level fluctuations (WLF) in the
Keywords:
pre and post monsoon, vadose zone (VZ), and slope are assessed through satellite and conventional data sources.
Groundwater potential zones All these parameters and their sub-parameters are assigned weights to implement FL, AHP and integrated Fuzzy-
AHP AHP models based on existing knowledge. Three result maps have been prepared up that integrate all these pa-
Fuzzy logic rameters and their respective weights into the GIS software. Accuracy results show that the map made with the
Fuzzy-AHP integrated Fuzzy-AHP model is more efficient (78% validation) than AHP (76% validation) and FL approaches
Sustainable management (72% validation). This study concludes that the integrated AHP-Fuzzy model is more reliable for estimating the
Remote sensing and GIS groundwater potential. However, the impact of the study on the impact of knowledge of the criteria has
shown that the ability of the technique to accurately predict depends on the integrity of the classification of
the criteria used. The study found that a simple GIS-based integrated approach is suitable for making accurate
and reliable predictions, especially if the order of the criteria used for expectation is consistent. Such findings
have shown that planners in regions with a lack of data have an accurate knowledge of groundwater sources
through the integrated methodology based on an analysis of geospatial data. In this manner, advancement for
the inescapable plan of groundwater research can be created in a compelling manner.
© 2019 The Author. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an
open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Water is the major source for day to day existence in both urban and
rural areas which recently observed the infiltration rate due to defores-
tation and lower rainfall besides increasing urban development.
(Adham et al., 2018; Jha et al., 2007; Kumar et al., 2016). Furthermore
rising population, expanding urbanization and escalating of agriculture
leads to depleting of groundwater resources which is taken to manage
these resources and artificial recharge structures that tackle water is-
sues of the area. (Madrucci et al., 2008; Murthy and Mamo, 2009;
Chowdhury et al., 2009). Artificial groundwater recharge is gradually
causing more necessary and scarcity as rising population and expanding
of urbanization which requires more water and as more stores are de-
sired to conserve the heavy water usage during the scarcity period.
Geospatial technologies are widely used to prepare and integrate
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gsraju05@gmail.com (G. Sudarsana Raju).
different types of thematic layers. The integration of these two tech-
niques has proven to be an effective means of harvesting GWP and dif-
ferent studies have been showed in different parts of the world (Kadam
et al., 2012, Rajaveni1 et al., 2015, Rai et al., 2005, Manap et al., 2012a,
2012b). Groundwater exploration has become more advanced with
the development of several GIS tools, such as the height above the
nearest drainage (Rahmati et al., 2014). All these methodological ap-
proaches have made the study of groundwater simpler, economically
and time concise. Many researchers case studies shows the ability of
three decision-making approaches, namely fuzzy logic (FL) frequency
ratio (FR), and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) techniques in
groundwater potentiality mapping (Kadam et al., 2018, Kumar et al.,
2014, Sener and Davraz, 2012, Das and Pardeshi, 2018). The integrated
methods for solving socio-economic problems when creating solutions
that are used to solve a wide range of problems and AHP, Fuzzy and
FR gives priority not only to the essentials but also to the assemblages
of elements that are frequently needed. AHP offers a method to evaluate
multiple criteria from a specific context that can measure a unique

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydres.2019.11.006
2589-7578/© 2019 The Author. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
98 M. Rajasekhar et al. / HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108
alternative to the general criteria. The purpose of this research is to sub-
sidise to the methodical study of GWP in the RS, field research and AHP-
fuzzy approaches GWPZ (Kadam et al., 2017a, 2017b; Mahmoud and
Alazba, 2014, Jha et al., 2010; Selvarani et al., 2017; Ghayoumian et al.,
2007). Chitravathi is one of the rivers India, originates in Western
Ghats and streams through between states of Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh (Rajasekhar et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2018d and Rajasekhar
et al., 2019). Chitravathi River flows major part of the Anantapur district
have sub-tributary of Jilledubanderu River in Andhra Pradesh. The
Jilledubanderu River starts off evolved from Maddileru River; it goes
through dry lands after it is connected to Penna River. The classification
of weights for the differentiating themes and their individual character-
istics was chosen on the basis of individual evaluations given their rela-
tive importance from the point of artificial recharge (Rajasekhar et al.,
2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2018d). The Jilledubanderu basin shows severe
drought conditions every year, despite rainfall during the summer dur-
ing the monsoons due to the semi-arid nature. A large part of the
Jilledubanderu basin exhibits a severe drought condition every year de-
spite of flighty rainfall occurrence during monsoon because of semi-arid
nature. A large area of Jilledubanderu basin is covering agricultural land.
Hence, irrigation for crop firming is a common practice. Due to semi-
arid weather conditions, water is easier to consume only during the
monsoon season. In the summer, the Anantapur district suffers from
Fig. 1. Location map: Jilledubanderu River Basin.
serious problems of drought and drinking water, an intense shortage
of consumable surface water, which means that people depend mainly
on underground resources. Subsequently, the main objective of the
study is to identify appropriate GWPZs in the Jilledubanderu river
basin, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, using FL, AHP and FR models
and compare these models to ensure effectiveness in implementation of
artificial groundwater recharge potentiality. In recent years, many
scholars have recognized the importance of connecting geospatial
methods in assessments for assessing GWPZ as sketches and differenti-
ation of groundwater resources. Use of geo-information is dependent on
the studies described some landscapes surface specifically noticeable as
geomorphology, geology, slope, and hydrological characteristics
(Rajasekhar et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2018d; Imran Basha et al.,
2018).
2. Study area
2.1. Location
The study area (486.95 sq.km2) located in southern part of the
Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India entangling 77° 48′ 34″ E
-78° 58′ 11″ E and 14° 05′ 35” N - 14° 26′ 45” N (Fig. 1). This region is
portrayed by hard-rock terrain of semi-arid climatic conditions with
 M. Rajasekhar et al. / HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108
potential of direct run-off and high evapotranspiration. The normal
temperature ranges from 15 °C in December–January to t 40 °C in
May–June. This region receives normal yearly precipitation of around
619 mm from June to September (Chief Planning Metrological Depart-
ment, Anantapur). The present study region contains soil types having
loamy calcareous, clay, pediment-pediplain zone characterised by
denudational origin on granitic craton (Rajasekhar et al., 2018a,
2018b, 2018c, 2018d). However, as soon as the Indian monsoon re-
treats, the region becomes extremely dry and a serious water resource
scarcity situation occurs almost every year. The primary economic activ-
ity in this area is agriculture by consuming surface water and ground-
water. Hence, water resource management is an essential concern in
Jilledubanderu river basin.
2.2. Hydrogeologic setting
The study area covered by hard rock terrain along with an Archaean
Peninsular Gneissic Complex of hornblende-biotite gneiss, granodiorite
and Lamprophyre (GSI, 2002). These granite rocks intersect with the
underground dikes. In the north, part of the basin an isolated piece of
lamprophyre (Fig. 2). In case of denudational landforms, shallow
weathered pediplain on lamprophyre, fairly and shallow weathered
pediplains, pediment, pediment complicated, residual hill and
denudational hill on red granite, fairly and shallow weathered
pediplains, pediment, pediment in complicated, inselberg, and struc-
tural hill of granite and granodiorite and dyke ridges are intruded into
all of the 5 lithological formations. Various aspects of ground water
Fig. 2. Geology.
99
prevalence, distribution, pleasant, status of development of Anantapur
District had been elaborately mentioned (APSRAC, 1997). The average
well density in mandals blanketed inside the watershed ranges from 4
to 7 in line with square km and Bukkapatnam Mandal, which occupies
greater than 1/2 of the watershed is asserted as over exploited
(CGWB, 2013).
3. Materials and methods
3.1. Thematic layers
Thematic layers preparation comprises a digital image processing
data RS, digitization of existing maps and field data to extract relevant
information. To determine the GWPZ in the research area, thematic
maps such as geology, geomorphology, LULC, DD, soil types, WLF in
the pre and post monsoon, slope and vadose zone layers were prepared
through topographic maps, existing maps, field data, and RS data
through ArcGIS software (Shekhar and Pandey, 2014).
(i) Geomorphology map prepared by the National Remote Sensing Cen-
tre (NRSC), Hyderabad, (ii) Landsat 8 satellite image with 30-m resolu-
tion acquired in March 2017 was used to derive land use/land cover and
lineament maps, (iii) geological map procured from Geological Survey
of India (District Resource Map) along with Survey of India (SoI)
toposheet no. 57J/3. 57J/4, 57F/15 and 57F/16 with scale 1:50,000
were used to prepare study area base map, geology, lineament and
drainage maps, from which drainage density and lineament density
maps were generated by applying line density tool in GIS; (iv) SRTM
100 M. Rajasekhar et al. / HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108
Fig. 3. Methodology.
digital elevation model (DEM) with 90 m resolution was downloaded
from the USGS website and used to derive the slope map and update
the lineament map; (v) The soil map was prepared with the help of
the Irrigation department of the Anantapur district headquarters
(Agarwal et al., 2013). (vi) The water level fluctuations map through in-
terpolation technique was prepared using the collateral data collected
from CM dash board, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. All of these thematic
layers are integrated into an ArcGIS software that would help identify
the GWPZ map of the study area (Fig. 3).
3.2. Assignment of weights and weights normalization
The AHP for an optional construction, where the problematic is di-
vided into different constraints, are combined in a different level struc-
ture, decisions are made about the general importance of the groups of
components and the results are mixed (Saaty, 1999). The AHP is a con-
cept of measurement by pairwise comparison matrix (PCM) and is
based on the judgment of experts to derive priority weightages. The
PCM is calculated on basis of weightages from 1 to 9 (Table 1), which
shows how often the map is significant than the others (Saaty 1980,
1990, 2004, 2008). The PCM for thematic layers such as geology, geo-
morphology, LULC, soil types, DD, WLF in the pre and post monsoon,
VZ, and slope its parameters are compared according to the scale
(Table 2). Based in the PCM, the relative weight matrix and the normal-
ized principal eigen value were calculated to determine the percentage
of effect of the thematic layers and the classification of the constraints.
Every thematic layer has more than five classes, indicating that the
relationships between these interdependent classes are too complex.
Therefore, the relationship between these seven thematic maps is
achieved through the use of different classes and is distinguished by
the use of AHP. The weights for thematic layers and comparison classes
Table 1
AHP scale (Saaty, 2008).
Scale 1 2 3 4
Importance Equal Weak Moderate Moderate plus
using AHP separately includes the accompanying progress (Saaty, 1980,
2004).
3.3. Pairwise comparison matrix (PCM)
The integrating of the eight thematic layers depends on the correla-
tion between the layers and their relative significance for the prepara-
tion GWRP and the 8 × 8 pairwise matrix that is being formed they
are GM - geomorphology, GE – geology, LULC - landuse/landcover, DD
- drainage density, soil - soil types, WLF – Water level fluctuations, VZ
– vadose zone, and slope. On the basis of the PCM showing the relative
importance and normalized values and normalized principal eigenvec-
tor is included in Tables 2 and 3 respectively.
The primary principle to check the order of comparison is that a Con-
sistency Ratio (CR) not exactly or equivalent to 0.1 shows a satisfactory
reciprocal matrix and the ratio above 0.1 demonstrates that the PCM
should be changed (Zolekar and Bhagat, 2015; Mundalik et al., 2018;
Rahmati et al., 2014; Rajasekhar et al., 2019), the CR is computed as pur-
sues:
CI
CR ¼ ð1Þ
RI
CI: Consistency Index; RI: Random Consistency Index.
λmax−n
CI ¼ ð2Þ
n−1
λmax: Principal eigen value; n: Number of Comparisons.
The consistency check for the thematic layers is λmax = 9.8997,
n = 8, RI = 1.41, CI = 0.1124 and CR = 0.08 is which is less than the
threshold value of 0.1, which shows a high level of consistency.
5 6 7 8 9
Strong Strong plus Very strong Very, very strong Extreme
 M. Rajasekhar et al. / HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108 101

Table 2
Pair-wise comparison matrix for the AHP process.

Thematic map GM GE LULC DD WLF Soil Slope VZ

GM 1.00 0.50 0.33 5.00 5.00 0.50 1.00 1.00

GE 5.00 1.00 0.25 4.00 1.00 0.50 0.50 3.00
LULC 3.00 4.00 1.00 5.00 2.00 0.33 3.00 0.25
DD 0.20 0.25 0.20 1.00 0.33 0.25 0.20 0.33
WLF 0.20 1.00 0.50 3.00 1.00 0.33 2.00 1.00
Soil 2.00 0.50 3.00 4.00 3.00 1.00 3.00 2.00
Slope 1.00 2.00 0.33 5.00 0.50 0.33 1.00 0.20
VZ 7.00 0.33 4.00 3.00 1.00 0.50 5.00 1.00

Table 3
Normalized pair wise comparison matrix and weights obtained for the thematic parameters.

Thematic map GM GE LULC DD WLF Soil Slope VZ Normalized weight CR

GM 0.052 0.052 0.035 0.167 0.361 0.133 0.064 0.114 0.12 0.08
GE 0.258 0.104 0.026 0.133 0.072 0.133 0.032 0.342 0.14
LULC 0.155 0.418 0.104 0.167 0.145 0.089 0.191 0.028 0.16
DD 0.010 0.026 0.021 0.033 0.024 0.067 0.013 0.038 0.03
WLF 0.010 0.104 0.052 0.100 0.072 0.089 0.127 0.114 0.09
Soil 0.103 0.052 0.312 0.133 0.217 0.267 0.191 0.228 0.19
Slope 0.052 0.209 0.035 0.167 0.036 0.089 0.064 0.023 0.08
VZ 0.361 0.034 0.416 0.100 0.072 0.133 0.318 0.114 0.19

Table 4
Assigned and normalized weights.

Theme % area AHP weight Fuzzy membership Class

Geology 56.75 14 0.96 Hornblende-biotite gneiss/hornblende gneiss

20.59 0.75 Granite and granodiorite
0.44 0.65 Lamprophyre
21.10 0.45 Grey granite/pink granite
1.12 0.85 Hornblende-biotite gneiss
Geomorphology 54.05 12 0.98 Denudational origin- pediment - pediplain complex
3.01 0.03 Denudational origin- low dissected hills and valleys
2.70 0.38 Waterbodies
1.92 0.48 Structural origin-low dissected hills and valleys
38.33 0.38 Denudational origin- moderately dissected hills and valleys
Landuse/landcover 21.98 16 1.91 Forest, evergreen/semi evergreen
38.01 1.39 Agriculture, crop land/plantation
11.56 0.24 Agriculture, fallow land
6.01 0.86 Barren/uncultivable/wastelands, scrub land
4.18 0.00 Wetlands/waterbodies
10.48 0.94 Dense forest
7.79 0.00 Built-up land
Drainage density 11.49 3 0.57 0–2.06 km/km2
23.11 0.89 2.06–3.60 km/km2
26.44 1.00 3.60–5.37 km/km2
25.98 1.89 5.37–8.21 km/km2
12.97 1.28 8.21–15.06 km/km2
Soils 58.01 19 1.45 Loamy-skeletal, mixed (Calcareous)
0.40 0.00 Fine, montmorillonitic (Calcareous)
3.57 0.54 Rock lands & clayey-skeletal, mixed
38.02 0.71 Rock lands & loamy-skeletal, mixed
Slope 49.61 8 1.39 0–5
26.02 0.67 05–10
12.35 0.20 10–25
7.78 0.00 25–45
4.25 0.75 N 45
Water level fluctuations 5.49 9 0.75 0.0–3.3
3.73 0.80 3.3–5.8
31.48 1.33 5.8–8.1
44.12 0.98 8.1–10.2
15.19 1.12 10.2–14.4
Vadose zone 18.18 19 0.80 1.9–8.8
20.09 1.33 8.8–16.1
47.27 0.98 16.1–22.4
9.51 1.12 22.4–30.7
4.95 0.00 30.7–41.3
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M. Rajasekhar et al. / HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108
Fig. 4. a Geomorphology, b Soils, c Drainage density, d Slope, e Landuse/Landcover, f Pre-monsoon water levels Fluctuations, g Post-monsoon water levels Fluctuations, h Vadose Zone.
 M. Rajasekhar et al. / HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108
Fig. 5. Groundwater potential zones a AHP, b Fuzzy Logic, d Slope, c Integrated AHP-Fuzzy.

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Table 5
Groundwater Potential Zones through AHP.
Ground water potential zone % area Area (km2)
Poor 2.36 11.47
Moderate 44.68 217.56
Good 52.09 253.67
Very good 0.87 4.24
In the similar process that is prescribed to calculate the percentage of
influence of the thematic maps, the relative ranks of the factors of as li-
thology, LD, LULC, soil types, DD, VZ and the slope are calculated. The pa-
rameters for each as lithology, LD, LULC, soil types, DD, VZ, rainfall and
slope were provided based on a PCM among the parameters and their
relative significance for the possibility of GWPZ (Table 4).
3.4. Fuzzy Logic (FL)
Fuzzy logic is an integrated method to calculate a clear set of data
with a stable or hard boundary, while the FL is a progression of member-
ship degrees that depict the imprecision and uncertainty of every func-
tion. In the FL, the accessory function differs between 0 (very poor
GWRP) and 1 (very good GWRP) and all other intermediate values indi-
cate the possibility of this function, for example, GWRP (Kadam et al.,
2018). Fuzzy membership (FM) values must be within the range (0,
1), but there are no useful limitations to choosing an of FM values
(Bonham-Carter, 1996). The FM is assigned to sub-criteria according
to their significance (Shailaja and Kadam, 2019), using the following
equation:
μAðxÞ€½0; 1
A: Fuzzy setX: Element of the universe.
There are several processes accessible to combine various member-
ship functions, whose fuzzy algebraic product has been used in this
study.
In fuzzy logic, each category of all the influencing parameters is
assigned with a discrete fuzzy value within the range of 0–1 according
to their comparative significance in the estimate of response to hydro-
logical process. The maps are then integrated through a fuzzy operation
to model the hydrological response of the study area (Table 4).
4. Results and discussion
A detailed methodology for assessing groundwater bodies in a given
region requires a thorough study of various parameters, such as geol-
ogy, geomorphology, DD, soil, slope, and vadose zone (VZ). In order to
separate the GWPZ in this study, separate thematic layers were created
based on RS data, topographic and collateral maps, and field indication.
4.1. Geology
Geology is for the main dependent to groundwater occurrence and
movement. Lithologically, the study formed by Archaean rocks of Prote-
rozoic ages. Geological features are extracted from existing maps from
maps by GSI and satellite images. The study area shows hard rock ter-
rain along with an Archaean Peninsular Gneissic Complex of
hornblende-biotite gneiss, granodiorite and lamprophyre (GSI, 2002).
These granitic rocks are crossed by dolerite dykes. In the northern part
of the river basin, a secluded patch of lamprophyre (Fig. 2). Overall geo-
logical classes were assigned (Table. 4) common weight scale values
based on rock's influence on groundwater. These granite rocks intersect
from the dykes of the study area. The geological classes are defined
(Table 4) values of the total weight scale based on the influence of the
rocks on the groundwater.
4.2. Geomorphology
The geomorphological map represents significant geomorphological
units, landforms and underlying geology to provide information on pro-
cedures, materials / lithology, structures and geological controls with
respect to the appearance of groundwater and movement. Geomor-
phology is a study of landforms which includes their description, species
and physical processes that have helped to evaluate possible groundwa-
ter areas. The main geomorphological units of the studied area are di-
vided into five types: low and moderately dissected- hills and valleys,
a pediment-pediplain complex, structural low dissected hills and val-
leys and structural moderately (Fig. 4a). In accordance with the usual
scale values for groundwater, the details are given in the given table
(Table 4).
4.3. Soils
Soil map of the study region developed with the aid of the district's
irrigation office. The soil in the research area divulges four important
soil classes: The soil in the study region divulges four main soil classes,
such as Loamy-Skeletal, Mixed (Calcareous), Fine, Montmorillonitic
(Calcareous), Rock lands & Clayey-Skeletal, Mixed and Rock lands &
Loamy-Skeletal, Mixed (Fig. 4b). The ranks of soils are assigned accord-
ing to their degree of infiltration (Jasrotia et al., 2009). The Loamy cal-
careous soil has a high degree of infiltration and, therefore, has a
higher priority, while the clay soil has the lowest degree of infiltration
and, therefore, is given as low priority (Table 4).
4.4. Drainage Density (DD)
The current study region has a 6th drainage network with an unpar-
alleled drainage framework with dendritic pattern. DD and the drainage
structure are generally controlled by geology, slopes and structures. The
order of flow has improved, the situation is appropriate when precau-
tions are taken with regard to storage and water capacity (Horton,
1932, 1945; Strahler, 1952; Chowdhury et al., 2008). A DD layer
shows a density value that varies from 0.021 to 3.56 km/km2. They are
categorised into six categories, that is, N3 very high, 3–2 high, 2.5–2 me-
dium and 2–1.5 low and 1.5–1 very low km/km2 for study purposes. Ad-
ditional weights are assigned to areas with very low DD, while low
weights are assigned to a very high DD in terms of infiltration point of
view (Fig. 4c). A low DD, which shows a high permeability of the surface
study region, is 2.25, which is calculated because the sum of streams per
unit area is also low and shows even more.
4.5. Slope map
The slope has an impact on the outflow and groundwater discharge
and is a vital constraint for the identification of reservoirs and rainwater
harvesting sites. The slope map (Fig. 4d) in four categories such as,
nearly level (0–5°), gentle (5–15°), moderate (15–35°), Very Steep
(N35°) (IMSD 1995), as in most river basins (almost 75% of the total
area) Standing nearly level and gentle with very fine settings on the
CN on the slope were not implemented (Kumar et al., 2014;
Manikandan et al., 2014). Weighted scale measurement values assigned
based on the slope categories which are depicted in the given table
(Table. 4).
4.6. Land Use/Land Cover (LULC)
The LULC classification have impervious nature surfaces like built-up
lands, rock lands have higher run-off coefficients as compare with per-
vious nature surfaces like forest, agriculture etc., nature of LULC classifi-
cation having infiltration. LULC provides significant indicators of
groundwater status and use of groundwater, as well as an important in-
dicator within the reach of areas with GWP (Fig. 4e). These maps are
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Fig. 5. Average of ROC curves for a fuzzy logic, b AHP, c Integrated Fuzzy-AHP.

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Table 6
Groundwater potential zones through fuzzy logic.
Ground water potential zone % area Area (km2)
Poor 4.41 21.47
Moderate 49.36 240.36
Good 43.49 211.77
Very Good 2.74 13.34
developed on the basis of RS data (satellite images) on a scale that is
suitable for planning, environmental assessment and development
studies. The different LULC classes (Fig. 4e) are built-up land, crop
land, water bodies, fallow land, forest, scrub land, wet land and barren
rocky area (Imran Basha et al., 2018; Rajasekhar et al., 2017). The details
can be identified in the given table (Table 4).
4.7. Pre-monsoon and post-monsoon groundwater depth maps
The average fluctuations in groundwater levels in the pre-post mon-
soon in the study region generally differ from 2.99 m to 34.35 m below
the soil surface (m bgs), with much of the region with a depth of bgs of
6.5 at 10 m (Fig. 4f and g). In the northeast of the region, the average
depth of groundwater before the monsoons varies from 0.76 to
37.38 m. The spatial distribution map reveals the groundwater levels
varies in 2017–18 are 2.3 m to 18 m, with most of the average monsoon
groundwater level varying from 4.5 m to 7 m. it can be identified in the
given table (Table 4).
4.8. Vadose zone
The unsaturated zone is the part of the sub-surface above the
groundwater level. The soil and rocks in this area contain air and
water in the pores. In some places, the unsaturated zone is missing, as
is usual in lakes and marshes, and in places hundred meters thick, as
is usual in dry areas. Unlike aquifers in the saturated zone below, the un-
saturated zone is not a source of water readily available for human con-
sumption (Zhimeng Zhao et al., 2018). But this is very important for the
supply of water and nutrients that are vital to the biosphere and which
are widely used for plant growing, construction and waste disposal. Hy-
drologically, the unsaturated zone is often the most important factor in
controlling the movement of water from the earth's surface to aquifers.
Therefore, it greatly interrupts the speed at which aquifers are loaded,
which is crucial for the use and management of groundwater. The spa-
tial distribution map at groundwater level after monsoons from 2017 to
18 shows that fluctuations in groundwater level range from 2.3 to 18 m,
with most of the region having average groundwater levels after the
season of rain from 4.5 m to 7 m (Fig. 4h).
4.9. Identification of GWPZ using AHP
The GWRPZs were identified by analysing the various influencing
thematic maps through integrated AHP method and geospatial technol-
ogy. The final weight of each influencing layer is shown in Table 4. The
comparison matrix shows that vadose zone has highest weight followed
by the soil and land use/land cover. Lowest weight was obtained for
drainage density. The consistency ratio (CR) value is 0.08, which is con-
sidered as consistent and thereby reducing any subjectivity involved in
Table 7
Groundwater potential zones through integrated fuzzy-AHP.
Ground water potential zone % Area Area (km2)
Poor 3.77 18.36
Moderate 41.68 202.96
Good 50.71 246.93
Very Good 3.84 18.70
the process of assigning weights to the various parameters (Azimi et al.,
2018). Due to the normalized weight of the different characteristics of
the thematic layers, the GWPZ was evaluated. GWPZ is classified into
four types, which are poor, moderate, good and very good (Fig. 5a).
The loamy calcareous soils within the north-west on the study area
were investigated as a moderate to good GWPZ (Santanu Pani et al.,
2016; Kadam et al., 2019). The total area with very good potential covers
approximately 0.87% of the entire area. The area with good potential is
located in the eastern part and the hills cover approximately 52.09% of
the area and, upstream from the basin, a moderate area covers 44.68%
of the present research region. The enduring areas are poor areas,
which represent around 2.36% of the study area. Areas with good poten-
tial include weathered granite and hornblende-biotite gneiss, and the
DD range from 1.15 to 1.42 to 1.5 to 2 km / km2. The weathered areas
in the southern and central part of the study region have moderate
GWP due to the gentle slope and the average porosity of loamy calcare-
ous soil type (Table 5). Careful monitoring of the GWP map indications
that the presence of groundwater is more or less replication of precipi-
tation patterns and geological formation parallel to the slope. (See
Fig. 5.)
4.10. Identification of GWPZ using Fuzzy logic
The fuzzy membership values were given to different features of
influencing parameters according to their importance in groundwater
recharge. All the maps were integrated by overlay techniques using
GIS to delineate potential recharge area. The final weights of influencing
layers are shown in Table 4. The geologic features are such as
Hornblende-Biotite gneiss/Hornblende gneiss were assigned with
fuzzy membership value assigned 0.96 it has very high priority due to
weathered nature and fuzzy value 0.75 to 0.65 having comparatively
moderate priority. Similarly, land use /land cover class such as agricul-
ture land received fuzzy membership value of 0.98 as it shows more re-
charge potential, whereas built-up land is given fuzzy membership
value of 0.02. The rest of fuzzy values were reclassified between 0 and
1. The flat/gentle slope sub-criteria possess highest and the steep
slope class lowest fuzzy membership value; the other sub-criteria
were reclassified between 0 and 1 (Aouragh et al., 2016). The total
area with very good potential covers approximately 2.74% of the entire
area. The area with good potential is located in the eastern part and the
hills cover approximately 43.49% of the area and, upstream from the
basin, a moderate area covers 49.36% of the present research region
(Table 6). The enduring areas are poor areas, which represent around
4.41% of the study area (Fig. 5b).
4.11. Identification of GWPZ using an integrated Fuzzy-AHP method
The integrated approach of fuzzy-AHP method was applied on eight
thematic parameters/layers to identify the GWPZ. The fuzzy member-
ship values were allotted to each sub feature for e.g. high, moderate
and low and AHP weights were assigned to thematic layers such as geo-
morphology, geology etc. The geospatial analysis of these thematic pa-
rameters/layers were performed using weighted overlay analysis and
resultant map was classified based on reclassify method. The good
GWPZ was found eastern part of the basin as well as few patches cnetral
part of the study area (Fig. 5c). The total area with very good potential
covers approximately 3.84% of the entire area. The area with good po-
tential is located in the eastern part and the hills cover approximately
50.71% of the area and, upstream from the basin, a moderate area covers
41.68% of the present research region. The enduring areas are poor
areas, which represent around 3.77% of the study area (Table 7).
4.12. Validation
To confirm the accuracy of integrated approach, well areas were
checked against the built GWPZs map. These validation results
 M. Rajasekhar et al. / HydroResearch 2 (2019) 97–108
demonstrated the database and methodology utilized for building up the
appropriateness model for GWPZ, including the reasonableness levels of
the criteria and the criteria's relative significance weights, to have yielded
precise outcomes. Validation of the procedure utilized relies upon con-
trasting existing groundwater well locations and the reasonableness
guide produced utilizing the closeness identification tools of ArcGIS envi-
ronment. Most exiting wells were inside the phenomenal to good regions.
Various methods have been widely used to validate potential ground-
water maps, such as receiver performance analysis (ROC), curve area
(AUC), groundwater well performance during field visits and more
(Pradhan, 2009; Mohammady et al., 2012; Regmi et al., 2013). This
study compares the FL, AHP and integrated AHP-Fuzzy models by plotting
the accumulated areas under different GWPZs and the accumulated num-
ber of wells available in each potential region. According to the graph, the
area under the curve (AUC) is calculated. FL, AHP and integrated AHP-
Fuzzy show AUC values of 72%, 76% and 78%, respectively (Fig. 6).
Shailaja and Kadam (2018) report comparable observations that inte-
grated AHP-Fuzzy in their study is the most accurate and efficient
model compared to AHP and safety factors. Even the report shows that
the AUC integrated AHP-Fuzzy is approximately 78%, followed by AHP
(AUC = 76%). Therefore, there is a strong agreement that the integrated
AHP-Fuzzy display is more accurate compared to AHP and FL. The re-
search by Al-Abadi (2015) also shows that the effectiveness of AHP-
Fuzzy is greater than the selective and knowledge-based factor model. Fi-
nally, it can be said that all models used in this study exhibit relatively
good accuracy. From the previous discussion it can be clearly understood
that the maps of the groundwater potential predicted in this study have a
very high accuracy. Therefore, the maps obtained in this study can be
used to help plan artificial recharge structures and other similar ground-
water sustainable management in the Jilledubanderu basin.
5. Conclusions
The applications of RS, GIS and AHP approach are the best way to
identify GWPZs identified in the Jilledubanderu River Basin. This study
identifies GWPZ for groundwater existences by analysing different the-
matic layers as influencing factors. To analyse the issue, multi-criteria
and computational three decision-making models were utilized in the
GIS condition under potential conditions. In this study a three-way val-
idation is performed to verify the accuracy of the GWPZs maps. A total of
60 wells were identified for the accuracy of each model using the anal-
ysis of the area AUC. The AUC for the Fuzzy model is 72%, followed by
76% and 78% for AHP and integrated AHP- Fuzzy respectively. Therefore,
the performance of the integrated AHP-Fuzzy model is considerably
higher than that of the AHP and FL analysis. The AHP and FL methods
depend on determining the relative assessment of their importance,
which requires considerable knowledge of the factors. Integrated
AHP-Fuzzy, on the other hand, is simpler and more accurate, indepen-
dent of user-based evaluation, due to various factors. GWPZs maps
show that the central regions have greater groundwater potential
than the eastern parts of the Jilledubanderu basin, which is effectively
supported by groundwater extraction data and groundwater fluctuation
maps. In addition to the significant results, this study is extremely valu-
able for groundwater planning, sustainable management and artificial
recharge structures in the Jilledubanderu basin, Andhra Pradesh.
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Department of Geology, Yogi Vemana
University, for providing computing facilities. We wish to acknowledge
the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments,
which helped in improving the contents and presentation of the manu-
script. M. Rajasekhar is thankful to the University of Grants Commission
(UGC), Government of India, New Delhi, for the financial support in the
form of National Fellowship for Schedule Caste (NFSC) (Grant no.
201718- RGNF-2017-18-SC-AND-37117).
107
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