TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of groundwater vulnerability in the coastal region of Oman using DRASTIC index method in GIS environment
AU - Jamrah, Ahmad
AU - Al-Futaisi, Ahmed
AU - Rajmohan, Natarajan
AU - Al-Yaroubi, Saif
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgement This work was carried out while Dr. Ahmad Jamrah was on a sabbatical leave from the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. Support from the University of Jordan is highly appreciated. Financially, this study has been supported by His Majesty grant on strategic studies at Sultan Qaboos University. We would like to acknowledge Ministry of Regional Municipality, Environment and Water Resources for providing the data and their continued support in field works.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - A study was carried out to develop a vulnerability map for Barka region in the North Batina of Oman using DRASTIC vulnerability index method in GIS environment. DRASTIC layers were created using data from published reports and the seven DRASTIC layers were processed by the ArcGIS geographic information system. Finally, DRASTIC maps were created for 1995 and 2004 to understand the long-term changes in the vulnerability index. DRASTIC vulnerability maps were evaluated using groundwater quality data such as chemical and biological parameters. DRASTIC vulnerability maps of 1995 and 2004 indicate that the northern part of Barka is more vulnerable to pollution than southern part and the central part of Barka also shows high relative vulnerability which is mostly related to the high conductivity values. Moreover, the changes in water level due to high abstraction rate of groundwater reflect in the vulnerability maps and low vulnerability area is increased in the southern part during 2004 compared to 1995. Moreover, regional distribution maps of nitrate, chloride and total and fecal coliforms are well correlated with DRASTIC vulnerability maps. In contrast to this, even though DRASTIC method predicted the central part of the study region is highly vulnerable, both chemical and biological parameters show lower concentrations in this region compared to coastal belt, which is mainly due to agricultural and urban development. In Barka, urban development and agricultural activities are very high in coastal region compared to southern and central part of the study area. Hence, this study concluded that DRASTIC method is also applicable in coastal region having ubiquitous contamination sources.
AB - A study was carried out to develop a vulnerability map for Barka region in the North Batina of Oman using DRASTIC vulnerability index method in GIS environment. DRASTIC layers were created using data from published reports and the seven DRASTIC layers were processed by the ArcGIS geographic information system. Finally, DRASTIC maps were created for 1995 and 2004 to understand the long-term changes in the vulnerability index. DRASTIC vulnerability maps were evaluated using groundwater quality data such as chemical and biological parameters. DRASTIC vulnerability maps of 1995 and 2004 indicate that the northern part of Barka is more vulnerable to pollution than southern part and the central part of Barka also shows high relative vulnerability which is mostly related to the high conductivity values. Moreover, the changes in water level due to high abstraction rate of groundwater reflect in the vulnerability maps and low vulnerability area is increased in the southern part during 2004 compared to 1995. Moreover, regional distribution maps of nitrate, chloride and total and fecal coliforms are well correlated with DRASTIC vulnerability maps. In contrast to this, even though DRASTIC method predicted the central part of the study region is highly vulnerable, both chemical and biological parameters show lower concentrations in this region compared to coastal belt, which is mainly due to agricultural and urban development. In Barka, urban development and agricultural activities are very high in coastal region compared to southern and central part of the study area. Hence, this study concluded that DRASTIC method is also applicable in coastal region having ubiquitous contamination sources.
KW - Aquifer vulnerability
KW - Barka
KW - DRASTIC
KW - GIS
KW - Sultanate of Oman
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U2 - 10.1007/s10661-007-0104-6
DO - 10.1007/s10661-007-0104-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 18095181
AN - SCOPUS:56249099727
SN - 0167-6369
VL - 147
SP - 125
EP - 138
JO - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
IS - 1-3
ER -
