Design and Optimization of a Ground Water Monitoring System Using GIS and Multicriteria Decision Analysis

A GIS-based methodology has been developed to design a ground water monitoring system and implemented for a selected area in Mae-Klong River Basin, Thailand. A multicriteria decision-making analysis has been performed to optimize the network system based on major criteria which govern the monitoring network design such as minimization of cost of construction, reduction of kriging standard deviations, etc. The methodology developed in this study is a new approach to designing monitoring networks which can be used for any site considering site-specific aspects. It makes it possible to choose the best monitoring network from various alternatives based on the prioritization of decision factors.