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Identifying Fresh Groundwater Potential in Unconfined Aquifers in Arid Central Asia : A Remote Sensing and Geo-Information Modeling Approach

Sotnikov, Evgeny ; Onglassynov, Zhuldyzbek ; Kanafin, Kanat ; Berndtsson, Ronny LU orcid ; Rakhimova, Valentina ; Miroshnichenko, Oxana ; Gabdulina, Shynar and Tussupova, Kamshat LU (2025) In Water (Switzerland) 17(20).
Abstract

Arid regions in Central Asia face persistent and increasing water scarcity, with groundwater serving as the primary source for drinking water, irrigation, and industry. The effective exploration and management of groundwater resources are critical, but are constrained by limited monitoring infrastructure and complex hydrogeological settings. This study investigates the Akbakay aquifer, a representative area within Central Asia with challenging hydrogeological conditions, to delineate potential zones for fresh groundwater exploration. A multi-criteria decision analysis was conducted by integrating the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), supported by remote sensing datasets. To address the... (More)

Arid regions in Central Asia face persistent and increasing water scarcity, with groundwater serving as the primary source for drinking water, irrigation, and industry. The effective exploration and management of groundwater resources are critical, but are constrained by limited monitoring infrastructure and complex hydrogeological settings. This study investigates the Akbakay aquifer, a representative area within Central Asia with challenging hydrogeological conditions, to delineate potential zones for fresh groundwater exploration. A multi-criteria decision analysis was conducted by integrating the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), supported by remote sensing datasets. To address the subjectivity of weight assignment, the AHP results were further validated using Monte Carlo simulations and fuzzy logic aggregation (Fuzzy Gamma). The integrated approach revealed stable high-suitability groundwater zones that consistently stand out across deterministic, probabilistic, and fuzzy assessments, thereby improving the reliability of the groundwater potential mapping. The findings demonstrate the applicability of combined AHP–GIS methods enhanced with uncertainty analysis for sustainable groundwater resource management in data-scarce arid regions of Central Asia.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
geo-informational model, groundwater resources, remote sensing
in
Water (Switzerland)
volume
17
issue
20
article number
2985
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:105020023743
ISSN
2073-4441
DOI
10.3390/w17202985
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 by the authors.
id
1a5cc33a-d49b-4aa6-a146-2b5059772945
date added to LUP
2025-11-19 08:05:51
date last changed
2025-12-08 09:01:40
@article{1a5cc33a-d49b-4aa6-a146-2b5059772945,
  abstract     = {{<p>Arid regions in Central Asia face persistent and increasing water scarcity, with groundwater serving as the primary source for drinking water, irrigation, and industry. The effective exploration and management of groundwater resources are critical, but are constrained by limited monitoring infrastructure and complex hydrogeological settings. This study investigates the Akbakay aquifer, a representative area within Central Asia with challenging hydrogeological conditions, to delineate potential zones for fresh groundwater exploration. A multi-criteria decision analysis was conducted by integrating the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), supported by remote sensing datasets. To address the subjectivity of weight assignment, the AHP results were further validated using Monte Carlo simulations and fuzzy logic aggregation (Fuzzy Gamma). The integrated approach revealed stable high-suitability groundwater zones that consistently stand out across deterministic, probabilistic, and fuzzy assessments, thereby improving the reliability of the groundwater potential mapping. The findings demonstrate the applicability of combined AHP–GIS methods enhanced with uncertainty analysis for sustainable groundwater resource management in data-scarce arid regions of Central Asia.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sotnikov, Evgeny and Onglassynov, Zhuldyzbek and Kanafin, Kanat and Berndtsson, Ronny and Rakhimova, Valentina and Miroshnichenko, Oxana and Gabdulina, Shynar and Tussupova, Kamshat}},
  issn         = {{2073-4441}},
  keywords     = {{geo-informational model; groundwater resources; remote sensing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{20}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Water (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Identifying Fresh Groundwater Potential in Unconfined Aquifers in Arid Central Asia : A Remote Sensing and Geo-Information Modeling Approach}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w17202985}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/w17202985}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}