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Integrated GIS and AHP framework for groundwater potential mapping in a Himalayan foothill district of Northeast India
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  • Published: 11 February 2026

Integrated GIS and AHP framework for groundwater potential mapping in a Himalayan foothill district of Northeast India

  • Sagar Basumatary1 &
  • Soumen Maji1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Environmental sciences
  • Hydrology
  • Natural hazards

Abstract

Groundwater plays a crucial role in sustaining agriculture, drinking water supply, and socio-economic development, particularly in the Eastern Himalayan Foothills, where surface water availability is highly variable and hydrogeological conditions are complex. In Baksa District, Assam, groundwater occurrence is strongly influenced by steep slopes, high runoff, intense monsoonal rainfall, and structural controls, making groundwater assessment challenging and underscoring the need for a region-specific and validated approach. The objective of this study is to delineate groundwater potential zones using an integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework tailored to the foothill environment. Seven thematic factors were systematically evaluated and weighted based on their influence on groundwater. The resulting Groundwater Potential Index (GWPI) classified the study area into five categories. Model validation was carried out using groundwater depth data from 11 Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) observation wells for the period 2019–2020, and predictive performance was assessed through Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. An Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 0.80 indicates good agreement between predicted groundwater potential zones and observed groundwater conditions, confirming the reliability of the proposed approach. High- to very-high groundwater potential zones are mainly associated with flat terrain, while foothill transition areas show reduced potential owing to steep slopes and enhanced runoff. The study demonstrates that the GIS-AHP framework, supported by field-based validation, provides a reliable decision-support tool for groundwater resource planning, artificial recharge site identification, and sustainable water management in data-scarce foothill regions of the Eastern Himalayas.

Data availability

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

Gratitude is extended to the academic mentors and institutions whose guidance supported this work. Appreciation is also extended to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), IMD, and various open data sources, such as USGS, NASA, and NBSS&LUP, for providing essential datasets used in the analysis. The support and encouragement from colleagues and family throughout the study are sincerely acknowledged.

Funding

The authors declare no specific funding received for this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Central Institute of Technology Kokrajhar, Kokrajhar, 783370, Assam, India

    Sagar Basumatary & Soumen Maji

Authors
  1. Sagar Basumatary
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  2. Soumen Maji
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Contributions

The study was conceptualized and designed with a focus on integrating geospatial and multi-criteria decision-making techniques. All thematic layers were generated, processed, and standardized using GIS and remote sensing approaches. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied for parameter weighting, followed by consistency analysis and weighted linear combination for groundwater potential mapping. Model validation was carried out using CGWB well data and ROC-AUC analysis. All interpretations, map preparations, statistical assessments, and manuscript writing were completed as part of this research work.

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Correspondence to Sagar Basumatary.

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Basumatary, S., Maji, S. Integrated GIS and AHP framework for groundwater potential mapping in a Himalayan foothill district of Northeast India. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39210-2

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  • Received: 18 November 2025

  • Accepted: 03 February 2026

  • Published: 11 February 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39210-2

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Keywords

  • Groundwater potential zones
  • AHP
  • Foothills
  • Baksa district
  • ROC curve
  • GIS
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