Abstract
Satellite remote sensing and GIS-based multi-criteria analysis are used to assess groundwater availability and potentiality of the fractured limestone aquifer of the Maknassy Basin, Central Tunisia. The integration of the multi-source data used (satellite images from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM +), Digital Elevation Model (DEM), hydrology and borehole data) based on the multi-criteria analysis has led to the production of synthesis maps documents on the areas of hydraulic potentiality of the upper Cenomanian - lower Turonian aquifer in the Maknassy Basin. The distribution of major faults and lineaments was extracted from satellite images processed by several techniques. Lineaments analyses are widely included with geological and hydrogeological data in the selection of groundwater exploration sites. The combination of the four developed thematic maps (availability, accessibility, exploitability and productivity) gives a groundwater potential map of the studied aquifer. This map shows four classes of hydrogeological potential: (i) the poorly class occupies 22% of the total basin area and is concentrated at the West end of the basin; (ii) the moderate class (49%) is found in almost the entire basin; (iii) the good (15%) and (iv) the excellent class (14%) occupy the centre of the basin.
•Groundwater potential zones (GWPZ) were delineated by GIS and multicriteria analysis.•GWPZ were identified in the central part of the Maknassy basin.•Major lineaments were extracted from Landsat and SRTM images.•The extraction of detailed lineament needs several processing of Landsat images.•The relationship between lineaments and GWPZ was highlighted in Upper Zebbag aquifers.