Combining the classic vulnerability index and affinity propagation clustering algorithm to assess the intrinsic aquifer vulnerability of coastal aquifers on an integrated scale

In the northern plains of Laizhou City, groundwater quality suffers dual threats from anthropogenic activities: seawater intrusion caused by overextraction of fresh groundwater, and vertical infiltration of agricultural pollutants. Groundwater management requires a comprehensive analysis of both horizontal and vertical pollution in coastal aquifers. In this paper, Intrinsic Aquifer Vulnerability (IAV) was assessed on an integrated scale using two classic IAV models (DRASTIC and GALDIT) separately based on a GIS database. Hydrogeological parameters from two classic IAV models were clustered using affinity propagation (AP) clustering algorithm, and silhouette coefficients were used to determine the optimal classification result. In our application, the objects of the AP algorithm are 3320 units divided from the whole study area with 500 m*500 m precision. A comparison of all four outputs in AP-DRASTIC shows that the clustering results of the 4-classification yielded the best silhouette coefficient of 0.406 out of all four. Cluster 4, which comprises 21% of the area, had relatively low level of groundwater contamination, despite its high level of vulnerability as indicated by the classic DRASTIC index. In the second level of vulnerability Cluster 3, 53.8% of all water samples were found to be contaminated, indicating a greater level of nitrate contamination. With respect to AP-GALDIT, the silhouette coefficient for result 7-classification reaches the highest value of 0.343. There was a high level of vulnerability identified in Clusters 2, 4 and 5 (34.7% of the study area) relating to the classic GALDIT index. The concentration of chloride in all water samples obtained in these areas was extremely high. Groundwater management should be addressed by AP-DRASTIC results on anthropogenic activity/contamination control, and by AP-GALDIT results on groundwater extraction limitation. Overall, this method allows for the evaluation of IAV in other coastal areas on an integrated scale, facilitating the development of groundwater management strategies based on a better understanding of the aquifer's essential characteristics. •Classic intrinsic vulnerability indexes correlate poorly with water quality data.•A universal solution was developed by DRASTIC and GALDIT models separately.•Hydrogeological characteristics were incorporated into the AP algorithm.•A combination of classic index and AP cluster results achieves water management.