Study of groundwater salinity in the HAHA syncline by the Kohonen self-organized classification (Essaouira, Morocco)

Abstract

The coastal aquifer of the Essaouira syncline (Morocco) was studied to identify the main processes at the origin of the salinization of groundwater. In fact, a multicriteria analysis approach on hydrochemical data and physicochemical parameters of the Plio-Quaternary aquifer was used to understand their spatio-temporal variation and their origins. Currently, integrated water resources management has become paramount to both local, regional, national and international. This management is favored by extreme hydrological events (droughts or floods) which can have direct influences on human, economic and political aspects. Appropriate management of a resource requires its evaluation. The statistical study by Kohonen's self-organized classification (SOM) of hydrochemical data for the years 1995 and 2009 is used to process 47 samples distributed over the entire study area; it showed an evolution of the values of the parameters. Physico-chemical as a function of time and space with an increase in the values of the parameters, from the center of the study area towards the southwest.