International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN (Online): 2319-7064 Index Copernicus Value (2015): 78.96 | Impact Factor (2015): 6.391 Volume 6 Issue 8, August 2017 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Analysis of Remote Sensing & GIS Data to Investigate Regional Groundwater Potential Zones in Ambon Island, Moluccas Province, Indonesia Andi Agus Nur 1 , Gumilar Utamas Nugraha 2 , Pulung Arya Pranantya 3 1 Faculty of Geological Engineering, Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia, Jl. Raya Bandung-Sumedang Km. 21 Jatinangor, West Java, Indonesia 2 Alumni of Geological Engineering Master Program, Faculty of Geological Engineering, Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia Jl. Raya Bandung-Sumedang Km. 21 Jatinangor, West Java, Indonesia 3 Research Center for Water Resources, Research and Development Agency, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Indonesia. Jl. Ir. H. Djuanda No.193 Bandung, Jawa Barat Abstract: Ambon Island have some region that scarce water. Groundwater is one of solution that can solve this problem, but exploration of groundwater in region with scarce water resources requires the implementation some of effective tools that save time and money and minimize the risk. The increasing demand of water has brought tremendous pressure on groundwater resources. Groundwater utilize in ambon primarily for daily use activities and become the primary needs. groundwater is prime source of water. The integration between advanced techniques for groundwater exploration is necessary to protect and to manage the resources. The objective of this study was to explore and delineation groundwater potential zones in Ambon Island, Moluccas Province, Indonesia. GIS- based modelling was used to integrate remote sensing data to delineate groundwater potential zones and separate it into several area that prospect or not for groundwater exploration for community in Ambon. In the present study, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor, ASTER global digital elevation model generate various thematic maps, visualization, geomorphology, land use, geology, lineament density, drainage density, slope. Based on this integrated approach, the groundwater availability in the Ambon Island was classified into three categories, poor, fair, and good. The zones with high lineament density, high drainage density, low steep slope were categorized as good groundwater potential zones while areas with low lineament density, low drainage density, high steep slope as poor groundwater potential zones. The results reveal that the modelling assessment method proposed in this study is an effective tool for delineate groundwater potential zones for management of groundwater resources. The study showed that remote sensing and GIS provided efficient tools for mapping promising sites for groundwater exploration. However, the data of groundwater wells would enhanced the delineation of groundwater potential zone. Keywords: Groundwater, Remote Sensing, GIS, Moluccas 1. Introduction Groundwater is a vital natural resource for the reliable and economic provision of potable water supply in both urban and rural environment [16]. Hence it plays a fundamental role in human well-beings, as well as that of some aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems [16]. Remote Sensing and The Geographical Information System (GIS) with their advantages of spatial, spectral and temporal availability and manipulation of data covering large and inaccessible areas within a short time have become very handy tools in accessing, monitoring and conserving groundwater resources [21]. It also has been found that remote sensing, besides helping in targeting potential zones for groundwater exploration, provides input towards estimation of the total groundwater resources in an area [21]. GIS and remote sensing tools are widely used for the management of various natural resources [1] [16]. Delineating the potential groundwater zones using remote sensing and GIS is an effective tool [16]. In recent years, extensive use of satellite data along with conventional maps and rectified ground truth data, has made it easier to establish the base line information for groundwater potential zones. Remote sensing not only provides a wide-range scale of the space-time distribution of observations, but also saves time and money [18]. In addition it is widely used to characterize the earth surface (such as lineaments, drainage patterns and lithology) as well as to examine the groundwater recharge zones [21]. Applications of remote sensing and GIS for the exploration of groundwater potential zones are carried out by a number of researchers around the world, and it was found that the involved factors in determining the groundwater potential zones were different, and hence the results vary accordingly [16]. [24] relied only on the lineaments for groundwater exploration and others merged different factors apart from lineaments like drainage density, geomorphology, geology, slope, land-use, rainfall intensity and soil texture [21]. The derived results are found to be satisfactory based on field survey and it varies from one region to another because of varied geo-environmental conditions. Integration of remote sensing and GIS method for preparing various thematic layers, such as lithology, drainage density, lineament density, slope, land-use maps with assigned weightage in a spatial domain will support the identification of potential groundwater zones. It was the purpose of this investigation to explore groundwater potential zones in Ambon Island, Moluccas Province, Indonesia using Remote Paper ID: ART20176127 DOI: 10.21275/ART20176127 1538