Spatial prediction of groundwater potential by various novel boosting-based ensemble learning models in mountainous areas

This study makes a significant contribution to the field of groundwater potential mapping (GWPM) by exploring the application of ensemble learning models (ELMs), specifically boosting ensemble models (BEMs), which have not been fully utilized in GWPM. By employing six ELMs (random forest, AdaBoost, XGBoost, CatBoost, GBDT, and LightGBM), along with Tree-structured Parzen Estimator in Luoning County, China, this study identifies key indicators (topographic position index, distance to rivers, and topographic wetness index) and demonstrates the superior model performance of XGBoost compared to other ELMs. Additionally, correlation analysis confirms the accuracy of XGBoost in predicting relationships between important indicators and groundwater potentials. Finally, the findings provide valuable insights for sustainable groundwater management strategies in Luoning County and emphasize the need for further exploration of ELMs, development of comprehensive performance evaluation and indicator systems, reduction of the inconsistencies between indicators and predication results and practical research to support future sustainable groundwater management.