UZAKTAN ALGILAMA KULLANILARAK EBER GÖLÜ'NDEKİ SULAK ALAN DÖNÜŞÜMLERİNİN ON YIL SÜRE İLE İZLENMESİ

Eber Lake, an important wetland located in the Akarçay closed basin in the Central Anatolia Region, has experienced significant drought-induced shrinkage. This study monitored and quantified the changes in wetland areas of Lake Eber from 2015 to 2024 using high-resolution Sentinel 2-A satellite imagery and the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI). MNDWI was selected due to its superior performance in accurately characterizing wetland properties compared to alternative indices. An iterative analysis was conducted to determine the most appropriate threshold to distinguish between water and non-water areas, and the threshold values were validated using ground-based data. Our results reveal a striking contraction in the spatial extent of wetlands; the area decreased from 7,748 ha in 2015 to only 327 ha in 2024, indicating a decrease of approximately 96%. This significant loss highlights the profound impact of environmental factors such as prolonged droughts, increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns, and likely anthropogenic pressures. The integration of remote sensing and robust GIS methodologies in this study provides a detailed, temporally continuous record of wetland transformations, providing new insights into regional hydrological dynamics. The findings not only improve our understanding of the ongoing environmental changes in Lake Eber but also highlight the urgent need for sustainable management practices and conservation strategies to mitigate further degradation of this vital ecosystem.