Master thesis

Felipe Vásquez López (2017)
MAR site selection in Western Europe and comparison with other suitability maps by means of the MAR index. Master thesis, Technische Universität Dresden, October 2017

Abstract

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) have been used worldwide to tackle groundwater level depletion and its associated problems. To identify suitable areas for the operation of MAR projects, Spatial multi-criteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA) have been used by decision-makers around the world. The INOWAS group of TU Dresden developed the MAR Site Selection Standardization Index (MARSSSI), a global MAR index that use geology, slope, and soil texture to create suitability maps for spreading methods MAR projects, providing decision-makers the tools to compare their MAR suitability maps with the ones created by the MARSSSI. This project will present an assessment of the MARSSSI performance by comparing its results with suitability study cases from the Iberian Peninsula, Costa Rica and China. The suitability study case for the Iberian Peninsula was built by this project, using Hydrogeology, slope, soil texture, land cover and drainage density as criteria. Study cases for China and Costa Rica were provided to this study to enrich the analysis. MARSSSI proved to be a powerful tool because of its simplicity, the easy access of its information requirements, and its reliability, yet some recommendations emerge from the development of this project to improve its performance. This recommendation concerns the use of constraint mapping, to assist the reclassification from source datasets to the sub-criteria classes required by the MARSSSI, and to assessed in further studies its behavior for finer scale projects were spatial variability of the slope, soil texture, and geology can be diminished.