Geostatistical assessment of nitrate in groundwater of Puri City, India.

Groundwater quality is a major concern for assuring safe public health in terms of nitrate concentration. The objective of study was precise modeling of spatial variation of nitrate in groundwater using geostatistical analysis. To account for the uncertainty of the prediction, Kriging interpolation method was applied. The best Kriging method and semivariogram model were identified with optimum values of parameters to model the nitrate variation in groundwater. Accuracy of model was checked by error gauges and consistency of ground truth values with predicted values. Finally prediction and error maps of nitrate in groundwater were generated using Ordinary Kriging. The study reflects the importance of quality data and significance of geostatistical analysis for groundwater planning and management.