As world population increases the demand for accessible water resources also increase, particularly in developing nations. Groundwater deposits are the largest source of available fresh water on the planet; however, exploration for such deposits is expensive and time consuming. Many recent studies have demonstrated the vast potential of the employment of satellite imagery in the search for reliable groundwater sources. This thesis made use of two freely available satellite datasets, LANDSAT TM+7 and SRTM, to explore the Central Plateau Region of Haiti for shallow subsurface water.
The satellite imagery was used to create seven GIS terrain analysis layers: slope, aspect, curvature, planform and profile curvature, catchment area, and compound terrain index; and two remote sensing images: linear features overlay and thermal signature. These layers each represent independent variables used in this research. Seventy-six wells within the Central Plateau Region were overlaid onto each layer to determine a relationship drilling well success rate and the respective variable. Descriptive statistics performed served to outline the variability and data range for each variable. Categorizing the data was also used to compare the distribution of data overall the range of the variable to determine optimal conditions. The GIS terrain analysis layers were categorized to related findings from generated histograms to the study area. The remote sensing images were used to determine the drilling success rate of the two variables.
The results of the analysis showed three relationships between drilling success rate and proximity to a linear feature, thermal signature digital number, and planform curvature. As the distance from the nearest linear feature increases the probability of drilling a successful well decreases. The probability of drilling a successful well increases as the thermal signature digital number value decreases. The more concave the value of planform curvature the higher the potential for drilling a productive well. These three relationships indicate that groundwater pumped out of hand-pump wells is accumulated precipitation water caught in an unconfined aquifer. The other spatial variables did not show statistically significant relationships which may be a result of many unforeseen factors including the depth, productivity reading, accuracy of well location, and the spatial resolution of the satellite imagery used was not appropriate for the relative size of the groundwater deposits. Continued research into the interactions of the hydrologic cycle, geology, and geomorphic features need to be undertaken to more accurately utilize satellite imagery in areas like the Central Plateau of Haiti.