The Combination of Principal Component Analysis and Geostatistics as a Technique in Assessment of Groundwater Hydrochemistry in Arid Environment: A case study of Central Saudi Arabia. Yousef Nazzal1*, Faisal K. Zaidi1, Izrar Ahmed2, Habes Ghrefat1, Muham
The Combination of Principal Component Analysis and Geostatistics as a Technique in Assessment of Groundwater Hydrochemistry in Arid Environment: A case study of Central Saudi Arabia.
Yousef Nazzal1*, Faisal K. Zaidi1, Izrar Ahmed2, Habes Ghrefat1, Muhammad Naeem1, Nassir S. N. Al-Arifi1, , Saeed A. Al-Shaltoni1, Khaled M. Al-Kahtany1
1 Department of Geology and Geophysics, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
2 Colleges of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
Central Saudi Arabia is one of the most arid regions of the world with very little precipitation and extreme climatic conditions. In the absence of available surface water supplies, the non-renewable groundwater resources stored in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary formations form the most important source for irrigation and domestic water requirements. The present study deals with 97 groundwater samples collected from Saq aquifer which is the major aquifer in the region. The study involves the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Variogram analysis for groundwater quality mapping.
The Combination of Principal Component Analysis and Geostatistics as a Technique in Assessment of Groundwater Hydrochemistry in Arid Environment: A case study of Central Saudi Arabia.…