Nature Environment and Pollution Technology

M. Suresh ¹, B. Gurugnanam ¹, S. Vasudevan ², B. Rajeshkanna ², K. Dharanirajan ³, N. Prabhakaran ¹

Affiliations
1 Geographic Information Technology Lab, Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, IN
2 Centre for Geographic Information Technologies, Bharathidasan University, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, IN
3 Department of Ocean Studies, Pondicherry University, Andaman, IN

Abstract

In the present paper deals with the study of hydrogeochemistry of groundwater by multivariate statistical techniques such as factor and cluster analyses. The upper Thirumanimuthar sub-basin, Cauvery River, hard rock terrain in Salem District covering an area of about 346.40 km2 has been selected for the study. Fifty one samples were collected during premonsoon season 2007 and analysed for various water quality parameters like pH, EC, TDS, Ca, Mg, Na, K, HCO₃, CO₃, SO₄, Cl and TH. Hydrogeochemical data of 51 groundwater samples were subjected to Q- and R- mode factor and cluster analysis. R-mode analysis reveals the interrelations among the variables studied and the Q-mode analysis reveals the interrelations among the samples studied. The R-mode factor analysis shows that Na and CI with HCO₃ account for most of the electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids of the groundwater. The 'single dominance' nature of the majority of the factors in the R-mode analysis indicates non-mixing or partial mixing of different types of groundwaters. Both Q-mode factor and R-mode cluster analyses show that there is an exchange between the river water and adjacent groundwater. Cluster classification map reveals that 97.79% of the study area comes under cluster I classification.

Keywords

Groundwater, Hydrogeochemical Studies, Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis.

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N. Prabhakaran ¹, B. Gurugnanam ¹, S. Vasudevan ², S. Joseph Santhanaraj ³

Affiliations
1 GIT Lab, Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, IN
2 GIT Lab, Centre for Geographic Information Technology, School of Geosciences, Bharathidasan University, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, IN
3 Department of Chemistry, Saint Joseph College, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, IN

Abstract

An attempt has been made to demarcate sites for groundwater irrigation quality at upper Manimuktha sub basin, Velar basin, Tamil Nadu through GIS technique using ARC/GIS Software. The irrigation quality standard output was taken to GIS platform. The work was executed with the weighted rating analysis in GIS environment. Spatial and non-spatial data were assessed in a quick and efficient way in GIS. The term 'geographic' in GIS refers to the locational attributes which define the spatial positioning of the piece of information on the face of the earth. The advent of digital computers, with high data processing speed and the development of analytical tools in GIS to handle geographically referenced data with ease and flexibility, computer aided GIS has become a reality of late. Using of GIS in hydrogeology is only at its beginning, but there have been successful applications that started to develop. The favourabilty of the irrigational quality was demarcated in GIS. The favourable area occupying in premonsoon was 269 km2 and in the postmonsoon 239 km².

Keywords

Groundwater, Salinity, SAR, Alkali Hazard, Irrigation Water Quality, GIS.

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