Multi-temporal analysis and mapping of coastal erosion caused by open-mining areas

Coastal zones are exposed to erosion due to natural and human-induced activities around the world. The land use of the coastal zone in the northern part of Istanbul, Turkey, has been changing due to open-pit coal mining begun in 1980. The objective of this study is to determine the changes that occurred in a selected coastal zone by utilizing interpretations of multi-temporal LANDSAT satellite data. Satellite images of the zone taken during the years 1984, 1992, and 2001 were transformed to the universal transverse mercator (UTM) coordinate system, and 17 bands of images for each of these years were interpreted using layer-stack method. A new red, green, and blue (RGB) image including infrared band of each year was created. These findings show that 304.7 ha area of sea was filled with soil between years 1984 and 1992. However, the total area filled between 1984 and 2001 was only 67.7 ha, due to the fact that 237.0 ha was removed by coastal erosion after year 1992.