Monitoring coastal erosion at the Black Sea coasts in Turkey using satellite data: A case study at the Lake Terkos, North-west Istanbul

There is justifiable cause for concern over the adequacy of our water supplies. To control and protect aquatic ecosystems and drinking water supplies, continuous monitoring is essential. An example related to the careless attitudes towards the Lake Terkos, Istanbul, which create the danger of waterlessness for citizens was given in this study. The width of the natural land barrier between the Black Sea and the Lake Terkos has decreased over the years due to illegal sand excavation along the coastline of the sea very close to the nothern part of the lake. As a result of this process the offshore bar formation along the coastline has been destroyed and even removed at different parts, which caused morphological changes of the coastline along some parts of the northern coasts of the sea. In this paper, the coastal erosion during a 14-year period was monitored by using multitemporal satellite sensor data and some suggestions for precautions were made.