Multivariate analysis of ground water characteristics of Ajali sandstone formation: A case study of Udi and Nsukka LGAs of Enugu State of Nigeria

Abstract Multivariate statistical techniques were applied for the evaluation and interpretation of borehole characteristics of the Ajali sandstone geological formation of Enugu state of Nigeria to determine the latent structure of the borehole characteristics and to classify 9 borehole parameters from 33 locations into borehole groups of similar characteristics. Two chemometric data mining techniques used were, Cluster Analysis (CA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA identified the borehole parameters responsible for variation in the borehole characteristic of the study area. Out of the nine parameters examined, the PCA identified borehole depth, borehole casing, static water level and dynamic water level as the most significant parameters responsible for variation in borehole characteristics. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis also grouped the 33 borehole locations into three clusters. The CA grouping of the borehole parameters showed similar trend with PCA hence validating the grouping of variations in the borehole characteristics in the geological zone. The results of the study indicate that PCA and CA are useful in offering reliable classification of the borehole characteristic of the study area.