Use of Landsat land surface temperature and vegetation indices for monitoring drought in the Salt Lake Basin Area, Turkey.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate multitemporal land surface temperature (LST) changes by using satellite remote sensing data. The study included a real-time field work performed during the overpass of Landsat-5 satellite on 21/08/2011 over Salt Lake, Turkey. Normalized vegetation index (NDVI), vegetation condition index (VCI), and temperature vegetation index (TVX) were used for evaluating drought impact over the region between 1984 and 2011. In the image processing step, geometric and radiometric correction procedures were conducted to make satellite remote sensing data comparable with in situ measurements carried out using thermal infrared thermometer supported by hand-held GPS. The results showed that real-time ground and satellite remote sensing data were in good agreement with correlation coefficient (R2) values of 0.90. The remotely sensed and treated satellite images and resulting thematic indices maps showed that dramatic land surface temperature changes occurred (about 2°C) in the Salt Lake Basin area during the 28-year period (1984-2011). Analysis of air temperature data also showed increases at a rate of 1.5-2°C during the same period. Intensification of irrigated agriculture particularly in the southern basin was also detected. The use of water supplies, especially groundwater, should be controlled considering particularly summer drought impacts on the basin.

Use of EO-1 Advanced Land Imager (ALI) multispectral image data and real-time field sampling for water quality mapping in the Hirfanli Dam Lake, Turkey.

This paper focuses on the evaluation of water quality variations in Hirfanli Water Reservoir, which is one of the most important water resources in Turkey, through EO-1 (Earth Observing-1) Advanced Land Imager (ALI) multispectral data and real-time field sampling. The study was materialized in 20 different sampling points during the overpass of the EO-1 ALI sensor over the study area. A multi-linear regression technique was used to explore the relationships between radiometrically corrected EO-1 ALI image data and water quality parameters: chlorophyll a, turbidity, and suspended solids. The retrieved and verified results show that the measured and estimated values of water quality parameters are in good agreement (R (2) >0.93). The resulting thematic maps derived from EO-1 multispectral data for chlorophyll a, turbidity, and suspended solids show the spatial distribution of the water quality parameters. The results indicate that the reservoir has average nutrient values. Furthermore, chlorophyll a, turbidity, and suspended solids values increased at the upstream reservoir and shallow coast of the Hirfanli Water Reservoir.

Evaluating climate change effects on water and salt resources in Salt Lake, Turkey using multitemporal SPOT imagery.

The main goal of this study is to investigate the dimension of climate change effects in Salt Lake and its vicinity in Turkey using satellite remote sensing data. The first stage of the study includes evaluation of the multitemporal climatic data on the Salt Lake Basin Area, Turkey for a period of 35 years (1970-2005). The changes in mean temperature and precipitation are evaluated for the study area by comparing two periods, 1970-1992 and 1993-2005. In the second stage, the effects of climate changes in the Salt Lake are investigated by evaluating water and salt reserve changes through seasonal and multitemporal SPOT imagery collected in 1987 and 2005. The climatic data and remotely sensed and treated satellite images show that water and salt reserve in Salt Lake has decreased between 1987 and 2005 due to drought and uncontrolled water usage. It is suggested that the use of water supplies, especially underground waters, around the Salt Lake should be controlled and the lake should regularly be monitored by current remote sensing data for an effective management of water and salt resources in the region.

Seasonal and spatial variability of metals concentrations in Lake Beysehir, Turkey.

Lake Beysehir is the largest fresh water lake and also the largest reservoir for drinking, and irrigation water in Turkey. The lake has an area of 656 km2 with an average depth of 5 m. Metal concentrations of aluminium (Al), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) were determined in Lake Beysehir on 9 June and 19 August 2005, and 12 June and 22 August 2006. The water samples were collected from 40 sampling stations. The aim of this research is to determine metal concentrations and their seasonal and spatial variability in the lake. Generally, metal concentrations of Lake Beysehir were found to decrease in the sequence of Fe > Al > Zn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Cu > Cd as 92.8, 81.8, 7.4, 2.7, 2.2, 1.9, 1.7 and 0.5 microg L(-1), respectively. The results showed that the mean concentrations of the metals in the lake water did not exceed WHO (World Health Organization), US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) or TWQCR (Turkish Water Pollution and Control Regulations) drinking water guidelines. On the other hand, maximum levels of metals sporadically exceeded these standards in some sampling stations, especially for Al, Cr, Fe, and Pb.

Mapping chlorophyll-a through in-situ measurements and Terra ASTER satellite data.

This paper presents an application of water quality mapping through real-time satellite and ground data. The Lake Beysehir which is the largest freshwater lake and drinking water reservoir in Turkey was selected as the study area. Terra ASTER satellite image is used as remote sensing data source for water quality mapping in addition to simultaneously performed in-situ measurements. Ground data is collected simultaneously with the ASTER overpass on June 09, 2005 over the Lake Beysehir. The spatial distribution map is developed by using multiple regression (MR) technique for water quality parameter, which is chlorophyll-a (chl-a). The results indicate that simultaneous ground and satellite remote sensing data are highly correlated (R (2) > 0.86). In the image processing step, geometric correction, image filtering and development of water quality map procedures are performed with the ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS 9.0 software. The trophic status of Lake Beysehir is considered to be oligotrophic with an average 1.55 microg/l chl-a concentration.