Spatial assessment of groundwater recharge, agricultural pumping, and hydrodynamic stress in the complexe terminal aquifer (Ghardaïa, Algeria) using GIS and Remote Sensing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67603/jaate.v1i02.10450Keywords:
ArcGIS, Remote sensing, Satellite imagery, Agricultural pumping, Groundwater recharge, Ghardaïa, AlgeriaAbstract
This study develops an integrated GIS-ArcGIS, remote sensing (NDVI), and multi-criteria decision analysis (FAHP) framework to evaluate the water balance of the unconfined Complexe Terminal aquifer in the hyper-arid region of Ghardaïa, Algeria. While classical macro-spatial approaches suggest a reassuring surplus balance of +12.65 hm3/year with modeled natural recharge (sim 47.81 hm3/year) exceeding actual satellite-derived agricultural pumping (sim 35.16 hm3/year) granular top-down discretization using Thiessen polygons exposes severe localized hydrodynamic stress. Historic oasis perimeters like Mansourah and Bounoura face acute groundwater mining conditions, where real volumetric abstractions overwhelm localized recharge by a factor of 10 to 12.7, resulting in irreversible piezometric drawdown. Conversely, massive, uncultivated peripheral cells in Guerrara mathematically distort the macro-balance. To mitigate local depletion, the validated FAHP model successfully maps optimal upstream green-engineering retention sites along Wadi M'zab and Wadi Metlili to maximize floodwater infiltration and artificially stabilize vulnerable water tables.
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