ORIGINAL PAPER The application of remote sensing and structural analysis in groundwater exploration in basement terrains, Darfur region, Western Sudan Abdalla E. M. Elsheikh & Khalid A. Elsayed Zeinelabdein & Sami O. H. El Khidir & Alain Gachet Received: 9 August 2011 /Accepted: 27 October 2011 /Published online: 13 November 2011 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2011 Abstract Darfur region is one of the most vulnerable areas in Sudan that suffer from shortage in water supply. The objective of the current study is to utilize remote sensing techniques combined with the structural analysis to recog- nize the most potential fracture zones for groundwater occurrences in the hard rock terrains of Darfur region. The old ductile deformation features in Darfur region delineated from Landsat imageries are used for the structural analysis to determine and classify the fractures in the hard rock terrains of the region. Based on the structural analysis conducted in this study, Darfur region was divided into two domains—the western domain of the pre-Pan-African age that is affected by the two deformational phases (D1 and D2), and the eastern domain represented by the basement related to the Pan-African orogeny. The most potential fractures in the western domain are in the NW–SE and NE– SW trends that classified as extensional and release open fractures for the deformations D1 and D2. In the eastern domain, the main potential fractures for groundwater occurrence are in E–W and N–S directions that are classified as extensional and release open fractures of the deformation D3. From the results of the structural analysis, the main potential fracture systems in Darfur region trend are NW–SE, NE–SW, and E–W directions. The intersec- tions of these fracture systems are the most promising targets for drilling, with consideration of the topography, the rates of recharge, and the underlying geology. The geophysical data and boreholes information in Zalingei and north of El Geneina areas in West Darfur confirm the results obtained from remote sensing data and structural analysis, in which the NW–SE, NE–SW, and E–W fractures trends are the most potential fractures in Darfur region. Keywords Remote sensing . Structural analysis . Hydrogeology . Basement terrains . Darfur Introduction The prolonged conflict in greater Darfur region since 2003 resulted in the displacement of more than two million persons. The successive waves of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the affected areas placed a large overburden on the already overstretched groundwater resources of the IDPs’ locations (UNICEF 2009). Low- level access to safe drinking water in IDPs’ locations continues to be one of the major challenges where the majority of IDPs depend on groundwater existed in the alluvial and fractured basement aquifers as their main source of drinking water. The traditional methods for groundwater exploration in fractured basement aquifers are concerned mainly on the density of the fractures in area under investigation (e.g., Edet et al. 1998) without consideration to the nature of fractures. The current study gives a new approach for the role of remote sensing and structural analysis in groundwater occurrence in basement terrains based on the distribution of paleo-stress through the geological history of the area. This study was conducted during the period from 2006 to 2010. The remote sensing A. E. M. Elsheikh : K. A. Elsayed Zeinelabdein (*) : S. O. H. El Khidir Faculty of Petroleum and Minerals, Al Neelain University, P.O. Box 12702, 11121 Khartoum, Sudan e-mail: kalsayed2001@yahoo.com A. Gachet RTI Cremieux, 13150 Tarascon, France Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:2061–2070 DOI 10.1007/s12517-011-0468-3