Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics (IJEGEO), cilt.9, sa.2, ss.169-176, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
Water resources in the world are becoming scarce due to
both natural climatic conditions under the effect of climate change and
human-induced activities. The population is rising day-by-day leading to a
steady decrease in water resources, which in turn, highly disturbs the natural
ecological functions of the vulnerable systems. Lakes can be addressed as
important water bodies that are under the effect of shrinkage in different
parts of the world, and if no remedial measures are taken, they will disappear
in the near future. Lake Burdur in Turkey is among such lakes that lose its
water volume over time. This study was performed via a group of
interdisciplinary scientists to analyze the spatial and temporal changes in the
water surface area in the long-term (1985-2020) and in the short-term
(2016-2020) with the aim of putting forth the areal changes. Remote sensing
technology was utilized for this purpose. Landsat imagery and Sentinel 2 images
were utilized for the long and short-term assessments, respectively. Meteorological
conditions during the inspection terms were obtained from the State
Meteorological Service to determine the dominating reason(s) of area changes
over time. Natural conditions and anthropogenic activities are linked with the
findings. Resultantly, water withdrawals from the dams and reservoirs built in
the region and from the streams feeding the lake for irrigation purposes during
the dry season representing the human-induced activities dominate over the
natural causes of climate change as is the case in most of the water bodies of
the world. This outcome was also confirmed by a detailed analysis of the
agricultural areas in the basin through satellite images and by field trips
made at site.