Artificial intelligence locates "invisible" water in Mali and Chad

Using algorithms and artificial intelligence, a research team led by Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) has designed a tool which, in its initial trials, proved capable of predicting those areas with best access to potable groundwater in Africa, with a success rate of close to 90%. In specific terms, the papers published in Hydrology and Earth System Science and Geocarto International describe the hydrogeological mapping performed by the MLMapper software in the regions of Bamako and Koulikoro (Mali) and the region of Ouaddaï (Chad), respectively. "Ensure access to water and sanitation for all" is Sustainable Development Goal 6. In sub-Saharan Africa, groundwater plays a fundamental role in the supply of drinking water, but the percentage of wells that strike water is very often lower than 30%. "This is mainly because of a lack of hydrogeological knowledge, with the practical consequence that millions of euros of humanitarian aid are lost in fruitless drilling operations", underlines Víctor Gómez-Escalonilla Canales, a researcher at UCM's Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Palaeontology.