Monitoring Spatial and Temporal Land Use/Cover Changes; a Case Study in Western Black Sea Region of Turkey

Abstract

Rapid land use/land cover changes have taken place in many cities of Turkey. Land use and land cover changes are essential for wide range of applications. In this study, Landsat TM satellite imageries date from 1987, 1993, 2000 and 2010 were used to analyse temporal and spatial changes in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey. Zonguldak and Eregli two largest and economic important cities which have been active coal mining and iron fabric areas. Maximum Likelihood Classification technique was implemented and the results were represented in classes of open area, forest, agricultural, water, mining, urban and pollution in the sea. Urban areas on both cities increased from 1987 to 2010. The agricultural and open areas from 1987 to 2010 decreased in parallel to land use and land cover change in both cities. Meanwhile, forest areas increased continuously with about 20 % from 1987 to 2010 in both cities. As industrial activity, the coal fields doubled from 1987 to 2010.