New DRASTIC framework for groundwater vulnerability assessment: bivariate and multi-criteria decision-making approach...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Hydrogeology
• Water Resource Management

Background:

• Groundwater contamination is a significant threat due to human activities and climate change.
• Groundwater vulnerability assessment models are crucial for resource protection and planning.
• The traditional DRASTIC model has limitations due to subjective rate and weight assignments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel framework to overcome the subjectivity issues in the DRASTIC model.
• To enhance groundwater vulnerability assessment accuracy using a data-driven approach.
• To compare the performance of the proposed model against existing methods.

Main Methods:

• A new framework integrating bivariate, multi-criteria decision-making, and metaheuristic algorithms was developed.
• Shannon entropy (SE) and Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) were coupled with Biogeography-Based Optimization (BBO) to refine model parameters.
• Model performance was evaluated using Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AU-ROC) curves and weighted F1 scores.

Main Results:

• The Shannon-MH model achieved the highest AU-ROC value (0.8249), outperforming SWARA-MH (0.8186), SWARA (0.7714), SE (0.7672), and the original DRASTIC model (0.7378).
• The Shannon-MH model also demonstrated superior accuracy with the highest weighted F1 score (0.452).
• The developed models showed improved accuracy compared to the original DRASTIC model.

Conclusions:

• The Shannon entropy coupled with a metaheuristic algorithm provides a more objective and accurate approach to groundwater vulnerability assessment.
• The proposed framework effectively addresses the limitations of traditional methods, offering a robust tool for water resource management.
• This enhanced methodology contributes to better planning and protection strategies for groundwater resources against contamination.