Efficacy of machine learning techniques in predicting groundwater fluctuations in agro-ecological zones of India

Highlights: • Scientific framework is developed to predict groundwater levels at large scales. • Efficacy of the ANFIS, DNN and SVM models is assessed in predicting groundwater levels. • The models predict groundwater levels in each Agro-Ecological Zone (AEZ) of India. • The DNN model's prediction ability is superior for most AEZs followed by the ANFIS model. • The study calls for improved groundwater-monitoring and data acquisition across India. In the 21st century, groundwater depletion is posing a serious threat to humanity throughout the world, particularly in developing nations. India being the largest consumer of groundwater in the world, dwindling groundwater storage has emerged as a serious concern in recent years. Consequently, the judicious and efficient management of vital groundwater resources is one of the grand challenges in India. Groundwater modeling is a promising tool to develop sustainable management strategies for the efficient utilization of this treasured resource. This study demonstrates a pragmatic framework for predicting seasonal groundwater levels at a large scale using real-world data. Three relatively powerful Machine Learning (ML) techniques viz., ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System), Deep Neural Network (DNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were employed for predicting seasonal groundwater levels at the country scale using in situ groundwater-level and pertinent meteorological data of 1996–2016. ANFIS, DNN and SVM models were developed for 18 Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs) of India and their efficacy was evaluated using suitable statistical and graphical indicators. The findings of this study revealed that the DNN model is the most proficient in predicting seasonal groundwater levels in most AEZs, followed by the ANFIS model. However, the prediction ability of the three models is 'moderate' to 'very poor' in 3 AEZs ['Western Plain and Kutch Peninsula' in Western India, and 'Deccan Plateau (Arid)' and 'Eastern Ghats and Deccan Plateau' in Southern India]. It is recommended that groundwater-monitoring network and data acquisition systems be strengthened in India in order to ensure efficient use of modeling techniques for the sustainable management of groundwater resources.