Abstract

This research investigates groundwater potential of Ibodi and its environs using satellite imagery remotely sensed and aeromagnetic dataset. This hydrogeological investigation involved the extraction of lineaments from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery and aeromagnetic lineament of the area. The processed image revealed lineaments trending in approximately NE-SW direction; also, Landsat and aeromagnetic lineament trends tend to agree in the study area, suggesting real continuous fractures at depth. Hydrogeological maps, based on lineament and lineament intersection were produced from the generalized lineament trends in the area. The lineament intersection density map identified cluster zones in the range of 0 to 1.17, 1.17 to 2.34, 2.34 to 3.52, 3.52 to 4.69 and 4.69 to 5.86 kg/kg², respectively. The map showed that the concentrations of lineament intersection nodes dominate the eastern and north-eastern parts of the study area while other areas are characterized by scanty or no lineament intersections nodes. The lineament analysis has been effectively done in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. Results from the vertical electrical sounding (VES) data reveals that the areas where the lineament intersected has tendency of very high groundwater prospect which reflects that the area will be good for groundwater development. The study thus displays that the remote sensing and aeromagnetic technique is capable of extracting lineament trends in an inaccessible tropical forest and has led to the delineation of areas where groundwater occurrences are most promising for sustainable supply.

Key words: Geology, landsat lineaments, aeromagnetic lineaments, lineament intersections, geographic information system (GIS).