Abstract
Groundwater resources are among the most important water supplies for human beings especially in arid and semi-arid regions where precipitation is scarce. These blessings are also vital for life sustenance as well as sustainable development in industry and agriculture. The quality of groundwater bears a great concern due to its key role in human health and safety therefore studying and monitoring the qualitative parameters of these resources is a useful and effective approach to tackle the related challenges. In this study, all the available data of Marand Plain’s aquifer were collected from the Regional Water Company. Checking the available dataset, a temporal range of 12 years (2002-2013) was chosen to be integrated into GIS. In ArcGIS, the map layers of the qualitative parameters were produced applying the Geostatistical Analyst tool and an appropriate interpolation method of the Ordinary Kriging model was selected to produce the interpolated surfaces for qualitative parameters. Finally, the change detection layer of each parameter was extracted. The change detection layers show the spatial fluctuations of groundwater quality over time. The temporal trends of the quality indices of the study area were also drawn. Based on the results the quality of Marand aquifer varies in different patterns spatially over the plain. The temporal analysis results suggest that in general, the water quality of the aquifer is in an inappropriate situation in which the groundwater quality has been deteriorated gradually during the study period.