Accepted Manuscript

Identification of potential Artificial Groundwater Recharge zones in North Western

Saudi Arabia using GIS and Boolean Logic

Faisal K. Zaidi, Yousef Nazzal, Izrar Ahmed, Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad

Kamran Jafri

PII: S1464-343X(15)30013-3
DOI: 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.07.008
Reference: AES 2319

To appear in: Journal of African Earth Sciences

Received Date: 11 February 2015

Revised Date: 4 July 2015
Accepted Date: 7 July 2015

Please cite this article as: Zaidi, F.K., Nazzal, Y., Ahmed, I., Naeem, M., Jafri, M.K., Identification of
potential Artificial Groundwater Recharge zones in North Western Saudi Arabia using GIS and Boolean
Logic, Journal of African Earth Sciences (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.07.008.

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to
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1 Identification of potential Artificial Groundwater Recharge zones in North Western

2 Saudi Arabia using GIS and Boolean Logic

4 Faisal K. Zaidi1, 2* Yousef Nazzal3, Izrar Ahmed4, Muhammad Naeem1, Muhammad

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5 Kamran Jafri1

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7 Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University,

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8 Saudi Arabia
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9 SGS Research Chair for Natural Hazards, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia

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Department of Applied Mathematics and Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Abu
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11 Dhabi University, UAE
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Dubai Municipality, Dubai, UAE
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18 *Corresponding Author
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19 Faisal Kamal Zaidi

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20 Email: fzaidi@ksu.edu.sa

21 Phone: +966 11 4698574

22 Fax: +966 11 4670389

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25 Abstract

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27 Identifying potential groundwater recharge zones is a pre-requisite for any artificial

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28 recharge project. The present study focuses on identifying the potential zones of

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29 Artificial Groundwater Recharge (AGR) in North Western Saudi Arabia. Parameters

30 including slope, soil texture, vadose zone thickness, groundwater quality (TDS) and

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31 type of water bearing formation were integrated in a GIS environment using Boolean

32 logic. The results showed that 17.90% of the total studied area is suitable for AGR. The

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identified zones were integrated with the land use/land cover map to avoid agricultural
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34 and inhabited lands which reduced the total potential area to 14.24%.

Geomorphologically the wadi beds are the most suitable sites for recharge. On the
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36 basis of the potential AGR zones closeness to the available recharge water supply (rain
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37 water, desalinated sea water and treated waste water) the potential zones were
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38 classified as Category A (high priority) and Category B (low priority).

39
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40 Keyword: Arid Regions, Saudi Arabia, Artificial Groundwater Recharge, GIS and

41 Boolean Logic
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48 Introduction

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50 Overexploitation and mismanagement of the available freshwater resources coupled

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51 with the advancement in the field of drilling technologies and availability of cheap power

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52 have led to a condition where aquifers are now being exploited at rates far in excess of

53 natural recharge. This situation is particularly true in the arid and semi-arid areas of the

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54 world. Overexploitation of the available water resources have already led to rapidly

55 declining groundwater levels, saline water intrusions, land subsidence and droughts

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across many regions on the planet (Falkenmark and Lundqvist 1997; Tsakiris 2004; Qi
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57 and Luo 2006). Global water scarcity studies carried out by different workers indicate

that approximately two thirds of the world population will be affected by water scarcity in
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59 the next few decades (Alcamo et al. 2000; Wallace and Gregory 2002).
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60 The normal groundwater recharge from precipitation is dependent on the climatic

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61 conditions (including the amount and intensity of precipitation), geology and land use

62 pattern of the area. Natural recharge varies between 0 to 2% of the total precipitation in
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63 dry regions as opposed to 30 to 50% in temperate humid climates (Bouwer 2002). The

64 low rainfall and high evaporation rates result in a practically negligible recharge from
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65 precipitation in arid area (Qin et al. 2011).

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66 The ever increasing population which is linked with the industrial development,

67 urbanization and food security, have directly contributed to the increasing water

68 demands in the Arab region (Khouri 2003). In the absence of plentiful surface water

69 supplies, groundwater resources form the single most important source of fresh water

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70 supplies in these regions (Scanlon et al. 2006; Zaidi and Kassem 2012; Kolsi et al.

71 2013). According to the Saudi Arabia MoWE 2014 reports, approximately 21.1 billion

72 cubic meters of groundwater were extracted in the kingdom during the year 2012 of

73 which approximately 81% of the water was used in agriculture. The situation gets more

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74 alarming considering the fact that most of these water resources are derived from the

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75 non-renewable groundwater reserves. Excessive abstraction of groundwater from these

76 sedimentary aquifers also makes them vulnerable to pollution from anthropogenic

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77 sources (Ahmed et al 2015) which further restricting its availability.

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Water resource management plans require effective management of aquifer recharge
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80 (Gale 2005) so as to reduce the gap between water availability and water demand. This

has re-established the context and relevance of centuries old practices of aquifer
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82 replenishment through artificial recharge and is gaining significance all over the world
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83 (Al-Assa’d and Abdulla 2010; Sargaonkar et al. 2011; Rahimi et al. 2014; Massuel et al.
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84 2014). Artificial Groundwater Recharge (AGR) is an effective technique of augmenting

85 the available groundwater resources, thus avoiding the water (from rain, desalination or
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86 treated waste water) to be lost to the sea or by evaporation (Bouri and Dhia 2010).

87 In arid countries like Saudi Arabia where there is very limited availability of surface
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88 water and heavy dependence on groundwater, AGR becomes even more important.
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89 However the success of any AGR project depends upon the precise selection of the

90 AGR sites. Proper site selection for effective AGR requires a number of climatological,

91 geological and hydrogeological factors to be considered which can be integrated in a

92 GIS using the built in algorithms. GIS is an effective tool where layered information from

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93 different thematic maps can be integrated quickly and can be used for identifying the

94 potential recharge zones (Ghayoumian et al. 2005; Al Saud 2010; Chenini et al. 2010;

95 Machiwal et al. 2011; Malekmohammadi et al. 2012; Hammouri et al. 2013).

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97 The objective of the present study was to integrate the thematic maps of the various

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98 factors such as the terrain slope (degree), soil texture, depth of vadose zone, type of

99 water bearing formation, groundwater quality (Total Dissolved Solids) and land use/land

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100 cover in a GIS environment using Boolean logic to determine the zones most suitable

101 for AGR in the North western part of Saudi Arabia.

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103 Study area description
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105 The study area (Fig. 1) is located between latitudes 24°N and 32°N and longitude 36°E
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106 and 44°E and covers the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, covering an
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107 approximate area of 375,000 km².

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109 Climate and topography

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111 The climate in the north and northwestern part of Saudi Arabia is arid with low annual
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112 rainfall. The rainfall ranges from less than 30 mm/year in the western part of the study

113 area (Tabuk) to 170 mm/year in the southeastern part. The low rainfall coupled with

114 high evapotranspiration (approximately 2,400 mm/year) results in negligible

115 groundwater recharge except in areas where concentration of runoff water coincides

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116 with favorable infiltration characteristics of the surface layers. The temperature ranges

117 from 43ºC to 48º C during daytime and 32-36º C during night time in summer. In winter,

118 it sometime falls to 0ºC.

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120 The highest elevations are encountered in the mountains along the western boundary of

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121 the study area bordering Jordan, with elevations exceeding 1800 m. These terrains

122 along the western boundary of the Saq Basin are bordered by valleys with flat

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123 topography having elevations around 800 m. More than 85% of the study area is

124 characterized by flat topography, gently dipping eastward with elevations ranging from

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900 m in the west to less than 400 m along the eastern boundary.
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Geology and hydrogeological framework

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129 The Arabian Peninsula can be divided into two main geologic units, a western part
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130 comprising of Pre Cambrian basement rocks known as the Arabian shield and an

131 eastern part consisting of gradually thickening Phanerozic sedimentary sequence from
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132 west to east known as the Arabian Platform (Şeber and Mitchel 1992; Rodgers et al.

133 1999). The Saq Sandstone is found at the base of the sedimentary sequence and crops
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134 out in a strip unconformably overlying the basement, (Fig.1). Moving away from the
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135 contact with the basement towards the east, the overlying formations appear one after

136 the other in chronological order (Powers et al. 1966). The Cambro-Ordovician Saq

137 formation comprising mainly of medium to coarse sandstones and ranging in thickness

138 from 400 to 928 m forms the major aquifer system in Northern Saudi Arabia (Alsharhan

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139 et al. 2001) and covers the entire area in the present study. Table 1 shows the

140 generalized geological succession of the study area.

141 The study area is represented by a typical multilayered aquifer system with the Saq

142 formation being the most prolific source of large scale water supply, though it is not the

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143 only aquifer which is exploited in the region. Depending upon the thickness, hydraulic

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144 characteristics, water quality and aquifer type (confined or unconfined) other aquifer

145 units exposed in the area are also exploited. Individual farmers are able to satisfy their

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146 water demands for small scale agricultural activities by drilling wells ranging from 100 to

147 150 m in depth tapping geological formations which act as local aquifers. Most of the

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aquifers are exploited in parts where they occur in the unconfined conditions. In all there
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149 are seven aquifers or aquifer groups and from bottom to top they include:

• Saq Sandstone
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151 • Kahfah sandstone (Qassim Formation)

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152 • Quwarah (Qassim Formation) - Sarah sandstones (Tabuk Formation)

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153 • Sharawra (Qalibah formation) and Tawil sandstones

154 • Jubah sandstone

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155 • Khuff limestone

156 • Secondary (Mesozoic) -Tertiary - Quaternary (STQ) sandstone and limestone.

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157 Two layers act regionally as aquitards but they contain units that are locally exploited as
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158 aquifer:

159 • Jauf limestone and sandstone,

160 • Unayzah and Berwath sandstones.

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161 The groundwater extraction from different aquifer units are presented in Fig. 2. From the

162 figure it is evident that the Saq aquifer forms the most important source of water supply,

163 though other aquifers are also locally important. The piezometric contour in the study

164 area is shown in Fig. 3. The wells (black dots in Fig. 3) in which the water table

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165 measurements were taken are under unconfined conditions. The water table in the

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166 region varies from 500 to 838 meters above mean sea level. In the western part of the

167 study area the general groundwater flow is from the south to north. The eastern part of

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168 the study area is represented by a zone of several cones of depression, corresponding

169 to the high rate of groundwater abstraction in the Qassim region.

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171 Materials and methods
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173 There are numerous factors that may influence the AGR such as geology, climate,
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174 morphology, floods, land use and socio-economic behaviors (Ghayoumian et al. 2005).
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175 In the present study six factors including slope, soil texture, vadose zone thickness,

176 groundwater quality (TDS), type of water bearing formation and land use of the study
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177 area were used to define the most appropriate sites for AGR. To achieve the desired

178 results, multiple thematic maps were prepared from available data sets from previous
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179 studies, remote-sensing images and field investigations. Thematic layers for the above
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180 mentioned parameters were generated, classified and combined in a GIS environment

181 by means of Boolean logic.

182 Boolean logical reasoning method is probably the most common and simplest type of

183 GIS model used for thematic layers integration. Boole (1854) introduced this method for

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184 the first time with a binary code classification system i.e. zero (unsatisfactory) and one

185 (satisfactory). Boolean logic has its own operators which are AND, OR, NOT, and XOR.

186 Since the present research deals with integration of different thematic layers therefore

187 AND Boolean operator was used. First time Boolean operation was used to prepare

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188 geological thematic maps by Robinov (1989). According to Bonham-Carter (1994)

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189 Boolean modeling technique involves the logical combination of binary maps resulting

190 from the application of conditional operators. Boolean helps to logically integrate various

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191 layers of evidence to support an assumption, or proposition. This technique also has

192 some drawbacks such as failure to consider some cases including priority of the factors,

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internal changes in each parameter, error in defining the conceptual model and the
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194 layers-error (Alimohammadi 2006; Mahdavi et al. 2011). The delineation of the potential

recharge zones based on Boolean logic in this study was restricted only to the
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196 unconfined aquifers. The flow chart showing the adopted methodology has been
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197 presented in Fig. 4.

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199 Results and discussion

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201 Six factors were considered for identifying the potential artificial recharge zones in the
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202 study area based on Boolean logic. The details of the factors and the suitable and
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203 unsuitable values for each of the factors have been discussed in the following sections.

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205 Slope

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207 Terrain slope is one of the major factors to discriminate the surface morphology (Flat

208 lands & High lands) of an area. It directly governs surface runoff, erosion and material

209 transport. Water infiltration capacity is a function of the slope i.e maximum where the

210 slope is minimum and vice versa (Daher et al. 2011). Most of the study area consists of

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211 flat land and sand dunes. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 90 m resolution acquired

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212 from SRTM was used to generate slope map using ArcGIS 10.2. On the slope map,

213 slopes are classified into five broad classes, (Fig. 5). For the Boolean calculation, areas

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214 having a slope of less than 5 degrees were considered suitable for artificial recharge

215 and areas having slope in excess of 5 degrees were considered unsuitable.

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217 Soil texture
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219 An important factor controlling recharge is the surface soil permeability. Areas of low
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220 relief (flat lands) coupled with low permeability will result in the ponding of water and
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221 eventually will be lost due to evaporation as a result of the extremely arid conditions

222 prevailing in the region. Permeability greatly depends on soil characteristics (texture and
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223 structure), land cover, and slope. Other things such as land cover and slope being the

224 same, soil permeability depends on the soil texture and soil structure. Soil permeability
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225 in the unsaturated zone is dependent on the soil texture and is one of the most crucial
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226 factors governing groundwater recharge (Jang et al. 2013). Water Atlas of Saudi Arabia

227 (1984) was the source for obtaining the soil texture map (Fig. 6). The texture map

228 incorporated the factors such as soil thickness, soil type, soil use, available water

229 capacity and hydraulic conductivity. Based on the soil texture map, loamy/rocky and

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230 sandy/clay type of soils were classified as unsuitable for groundwater recharge whereas

231 loamy, loamy/sandy and sandy soils were classified as suitable.

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233 Vadose zone thickness/depth to water table

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235 The thickness of the vadose zone which is the zone between the surface elevation and

236 the piezometric elevation was calculated and is shown in Fig. 7a. The cross-sections

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237 along AA’ and BB’ shows the variation in the vadose zone thickness in the study area

238 (Fig. 7b). Recharge rates show a decrease with the increasing depth to water table

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(greater thickness of vadose zone) (Healy 2010). A shallow vadose zone without
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240 intercalated impermeable layers is ideal for groundwater recharge as it reduces the

travel time for the percolating recharge water to reach the water table (Bouwer 2002).
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242 However some studies have shown that a greater vadose zone thickness provides
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243 sufficient storage space and allows the water to move laterally rather than vertically
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244 after reaching the water table, (Flint and Ellet 2004; Izbicki et al. 2008). A shallow

245 vadose zone if considered for AGR may also result in water logged conditions
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246 (Ghayoumian et al. 2005). To avoid water logged conditions in areas of shallow water

247 table and at the same time to reduce the travel time of percolating water to join the
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248 water table at greater depths, a thickness of vadose zone between 20 to 140 m was
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249 considered as suitable. Areas having vadose zone thickness of less than 20 m and

250 greater than 140 m were considered unsuitable.

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252 Groundwater quality (TDS)

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254 Rainfall is normally considered as the major source for recharging groundwater. This

255 water percolates all the way through surface soils to the subsurface rocks and finally

256 makes it way to the aquifer. Due to the interaction of the percolating water with the earth

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257 material, the water quality is likely to change as the water is capable of dissolving many

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258 minerals present in the soils and rocks through which it passes. Therefore, the quality of

259 the groundwater is an essential parameter to be considered for AGR and was

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260 investigated alongside other parameters. To quantify the nature of groundwater the total

261 dissolved solids (TDS) was considered as basic criteria for quality assessment. TDS

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distribution maps were prepared from TDS measurements taken in 295 wells in the
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263 study area.

Studies have shown that artificial recharge can help in improvement of the groundwater
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265 quality (Szucs et al. 2009, Andrade 2012). However in the present study, keeping in
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266 mind the limited availability of recharge water (either from rains, desalination or waste
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267 water) the focus was more on replenishing the groundwater resources rather than

268 improving the groundwater quality. Fig. 8 shows the TDS distribution map for the area
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269 (transformed to log base 2 for its ease of integration with other parameters using

270 Boolean logic) which has been divided into 5 classes. To strike a balance between the
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271 groundwater quality and aquifer replenishment, only those areas showing TDS
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272 concentrations of less than 600 mg/l were designated as suitable for artificial recharge

273 whereas the areas having TDS concentration in excess of 600 mg/l were classified as

274 unsuitable in the Boolean calculations.

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276 Type of water bearing formation

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278 The characteristic of water bearing formation where the recharged water will be stored

279 is an important factor to be considered in any artificial recharge feasibility studies

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280 (Bouwer 2002). If the geological formation does not have enough permeability and

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281 storativity, it may lead to ineffective groundwater recharge. Considering this factor the

282 surface outcrops of the geological formations in the area was classified as aquifer,

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283 aquitard and aquiclude, (Fig. 9) based on litholog information of the drilled wells from

284 earlier studies and geological maps. The areas covered by the aquifer were considered

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as suitable whereas the areas covered by aquiclude and aquitard were considered
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286 unsuitable for groundwater recharge.
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288 Land use/land cover

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290 To address the human intervention related to AGR, a separate parameter called Land

291 Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) was investigated. Agricultural developments can enhance
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292 groundwater recharge (Allison et al. 1990). At the same time changes in LU/LC can

293 alter the recharge rates which can have negative impacts on groundwater quality,
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294 especially in arid and semi-arid regions (Walvoord et al. 2003; Scanlon et al. 2005).
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295 LU/LC map for the study area was prepared from the satellite image (MOD09A1 data)

296 for January 2014. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)

297 Surface MOD09A1 provides Bands 1–7 at 500 m resolution in an 8 day gridded level-3

298 product in the Sinusoidal projection. Subsequently it was divided in to 5 major classes

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299 based on the NDVI values (Fig. 10). The potential artificial recharge zones falling within

300 agricultural and urban areas were discarded and therefore classified as unsuitable. The

301 areas occupied by rocky outcrops (barren rocks) were also designated as unsuitable.

302 Sand dunes and barren soils (unaffected by urbanization or agricultural activities) were

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303 designated as suitable zones.

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304 Thematic maps of all the above discussed parameters were integrated to generate the

305 final potential zones of artificial groundwater recharge. Feasibility of these AGR sites

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306 was further analyzed based on the availability of nearby water source. The possible

307 water sources for AGR in the current study were identified as natural streams,

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desalination plants and sewage treatment plants.
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Classification and integration of thematic layers using Boolean logic

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311
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312 There are different methods for logical reasoning, classification and integration of
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313 thematic layers. In current research Boolean logic is adopted to reclassify the integrated

314 maps in to suitable and unsuitable classes for AGR. Zero and unity value was assigned
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315 to unsuitable and suitable areas respectively.

316 The thematic layers are classified and their binary logical map was developed using
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317 Boolean logic in GIS environment (Table 2). Slope (degree), soil texture, vadose zone
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318 thickness, groundwater quality (TDS) and type of water bearing formation were used as

319 the basic input for Boolean operations. The land use/land cover map was used as a

320 filter map to avoid urban and agricultural area. After producing layers of individual

321 parameters by application of Boolean binary logic (0 for unsuitable zones and 1 for

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322 suitable zones), AND operator was used to combine all thematic layers to render the

323 final potential AGR sites.

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325 Boolean result Discussion

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326

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327 Thematic layers given in the Table 2 were combined using the AND operator and finally

328 a map of potential areas for AGR was obtained. Initially, 5 thematic layers were

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329 combined without the LU/LC layer (Fig. 11) which resulted in the suitability of 17.90% of

330 the total area under study as potential zones for AGR, (Fig.12). Next the LU/LC

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thematic layer was integrated with the other 5 layers and the identified potential zones
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332 for AGR is given in Fig. 13. Due to addition of land use/land cover filter the final AGR

suitable area decreased to 14.24%. Therefore, it is concluded that out of the total
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334 17.90% area suitable for AGR, 3.66% is restricted by the LU/LC (Fig. 12). The map of
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335 the geomorphologic units in the study area (Fig. 14) was superimposed on the identified
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336 potential AGR zone (without considering LU/LC). The graphical representation (Fig. 15)

337 shows that the wadi beds occupy the maximum share of AGR potential sites followed by
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338 the highlands, low lands and sand dunes.

339 Finally a proximity analysis was carried out based on the proximity of the identified
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340 potential AGR zone (considering LU/LC) to the drainage network, desalination plants
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341 and sewage treatment plants. Based on this map the AGR potential sites were further

342 classified into categories “A” & “B”. Category “A” refers to the sites which are closer to

343 the available recharge water sources (Stream network, Desalination & Sewage Plants)

344 and are given a higher priority while considering AGR. Category “B” refers to the

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345 recharge sites which are situated farther away from the available recharge water

346 sources (Fig. 16) and have a lesser priority than category A when considering AGR

347 experiments.

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349 Conclusion

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351 Thematic maps of the various parameters such as slope, soil texture, vadose zone

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352 thickness, groundwater quality (TDS) and type of water bearing formation were

353 integrated in GIS using Boolean logic to classify the areas suitable for AGR in North

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Western Saudi Arabia. The innovation in the present study was to integrate the land use
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355 pattern with the other parameters so as to filter out the agricultural and urban areas in

the final consideration of the suitable sites. The study reveals that 17.90% of the total
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357 study area was suitable for recharge without taking in consideration the land use/land
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358 cover pattern. However integration of the land use in the final result reduced the areas
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359 suitable for recharge to 14.24%. Taking into account the geomorphic units it was found

360 that the wadi beds are most suitable for AGR whereas the sand dunes have the
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361 minimum potential for AGR. Since the rainfall in the region is very limited, artificial

362 recharge of groundwater cannot be restricted only to rainwater recharge. Other sources
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363 such as treated waste water and excess desalinated sea water are also considered as
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364 the potential sources of recharging groundwater. This will not only help in replenishing

365 the groundwater reserves but also prevent evaporation losses if otherwise they are

366 discharged in the open valleys. The final output map of the suitable recharge sites were

367 further categorized into A and B depending on their proximity to stream networks,

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368 sewage treatment plants and desalination plants; Category A being closer to the

369 sources of recharge water was given a higher priority

370

371 Acknowledgments

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372

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373 This project was supported by NSTIP strategic technologies program number (12-WAT

374 2453-02) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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375

376 References

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391 Alcamo, J., Henrichs, T., & Rosch, T. (2000). World Water in 2025: Global Modeling and

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519 region of Saudi Arabia. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 5(2), 327–333.

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523 List of Tables

524 Table 1 Stratigraphic succession of the study area (after Laboun 2013, Al-Dabbagh

525 2013)

526 Table 2 Thematic layers with their classes used in Boolean logic

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527 List of figures

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528 Fig. 1 Map showing the study area location and geology

529 Fig. 2 Groundwater abstraction for different aquifer units in the study area for the year

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530 2005 (from MoWE, 2008)

531 Fig. 3 Piezometric map for the study area. (Values are in meters above mean sea level)

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533 Fig. 5 Slope map of the study area

Fig. 6 Soil texture map

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535 Fig. 7 a Vadose zone thickness map b Cross-section showing the thickness of vadose
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536 zone along AA’ and BB’

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537 Fig. 8 Groundwater Quality (TDS distribution map) with well location map

538 Fig. 9 Map showing the type of water bearing formation in the study area
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539 Fig. 10 Land use/ Land cover map

540 Fig. 11 AGR suitable sites without land use/land cover layer obtained by using AND
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541 Boolean operator

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542 Fig. 12 Area suitability bar chart for AGR with and without considering the land use/land

543 cover

544 Fig. 13 AGR suitable sites considering the land use/land cover

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545 Fig. 14 Superimposed map of geomorphological units and AGR suitable sites (without

546 considering land use)

547 Fig. 15 Area suitability bar chart for AGR sites with respect to geomorphological units

548 Fig. 16 AGR sites selection based on the proximity analysis

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549

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Average
Age Formation Generalized Geology
Thickness (m)
Quaternary Eolian Calcareous, silty sandstone, sandy
Quaternary
Deposits limestone; local chert

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Neogene Harrats Basaltic Lava Flows <560
CENOZOIC Mira-Umm Wual
Paleogene 135-200
Formation Limestone and Cherts
Limestone, dolomitic limestone and

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Paleogene Ummer Radhuma 220-230
dolomite
Limestone; subordinate dolomite and
Upper Cretaceous Aruma 150-165
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shale
Upper Cretaceous Wasia Sandstone; subordinate shale 42-125
Middle Cretaceous Biyadh Sandstone; subordinate shale 400
Upper Jurassic Hith 71
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Anhydrite
Calcarenite, calcarenitic and aphanitic
Upper Jurassic Arab 128
limestone, dolomite and some anhydrite
Aphanitic limestone and dolomite;
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Upper Jurassic Jubaila subordinate calcarenite and calcarenitic 110

limestone
Aphanitic limestone, calcarenitic
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MESOZOIC Middle Jurassic Hanifa 100-140

limestone and calcarenite
Aphanitic limestone; subordinate
Middle Jurassic Tuwaiq 215
calcarenite and calcarenitic limestone
Aphanitic limestone and shale;
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Lower Jurassic Dhruma 375

subordinate calcarenite
Shale and aphanitic limestone;
Lower Jurassic Marrat 111
subordinate sandstone
Sandstone, aphanitic limestone and
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Upper Triassic Minjur 315

shale; subordinate gypsum
Middle/Upper Sandstone, aphanitic limestone and
Jilh 307
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Triassic shale; subordinate gypsum

Lower Triassic Sudair Red and Green shale 116
Upper Permian Khuff Limestone and shale 170
Lower Permian Unayzah Sandstone 80-85
Carboniferous Berwath Siltstone 190-270
PALAEOZOIC Upper Devonian Jubah Sandstone 300-410
Devonian Jauf Limestone, shale and sandstone 270-280
Lower Devonian Tawil Sandstone 230-250
Upper Silurian Qalibah Shale, sandstone and siltstone 450

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Ordovician/Silurian Tabuk Sandstone and shale 140-160

Ordovician Qassim Sandstone and shale 260
Cambrian/Ordovician Saq Sandstone 400-930
PRE- Genissic gray granites; subordinate
Basement
CAMBRIAN younger granites
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551 Table 1

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Boolean
Thematic layers Classes Ranges
binary weight

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Suitable 0-5 1
Slope (degree)
Unsuitable More than 5 0
Loamy
Suitable Loamy / Sandy 1

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Soil Texture Sandy
Loamy / Rocky
Unsuitable 0
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Sandy / Clay
Suitable 20 - 140 1
Vadose Zone thickness (m) 0 - 20
Unsuitable 0
>140
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Less than 600

Suitable 1
(log2 transformed value 9.23)
Ambient groundwater
quality, TDS(mg/l)
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More than 600

Unsuitable 0
(log2 transformed value 9.23)
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Suitable Aquifer 1
Type of water bearing
formation Aquiclude
Unsuitable 0
Aquitard
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Sand dune
Suitable 1
Barren soil
Land use/Land cover Urban
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Unsuitable Barren rocks 0

Agriculture
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554 Table 2

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• Focuses on groundwater augmentation through artificial recharge in arid

regions.
• Integrates 6 thematic layers in GIS using Boolean logic to identify
recharge zones.
• Wadi beds are found to be most suitable sites for artificial groundwater
recharge.

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• Identified recharge sites are classified into high priority and low priority.
• Priority of recharge sites is based on their proximity to available water
sources.

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