A COMPARASION OF DIFFERENT SPATIAL INTERPOLATION TECHNIQUES FOR GROUNDWATER LEVEL CHANGES

Interpolation techniques are using in many different areas. The techniques give many advantages to scientists during the investigation. Different interpolation techniques were also used in environmental and geomatical researches especially determination of groundwater level changes. In this study, three spatial interpolation techniques (inverse distance weighted, local polynomial interpolation and universal kriging) were implemented and compared to determine the best spatial distribution of changes in the level of groundwater. 48 wells are used for study during the period 1999 to 2008 in the city of Konya, Turkey. Experimental variograms were ?tted for three interpolation techniques and calculation of root mean square error (RMSE) values. Values for inverse distance weighted, local polynomial interpolation and universal kriging found as 2.92, 3.16 and 2.89 respectively. On this ?eld, universal kriging gave the best results for changes in the groundwater level.