Investigating the climate change impacts on the water resources of the konya closed basin area (Turkey) using satellite remote sensing data

This chapter presents the pre-results from an ongoing study that mainly focuses on the use of remote sensing data to investigate the climate change effects on water resources in the Konya Closed Basin Area (KCBA), Turkey. In this study, multitemporal Landsat images along with climatic data were used to explore the dimension of drought effects on water lands and lakes located in the basin area. Image processing procedure includes both normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) image interpretation and pre-processing stages (geometric and atmospheric correction). Our results suggest that in addition to socioeconomic profits of the use of groundwater for agricultural purposes, its effects on the ecological balance and water reserves in the KCBA should be analyzed in detail. Also, management strategies and plans should be developed to protect and/or rehabilitate current conditions in terms of drought in the KCBA. Furthermore, the region should regularly be monitored by up-to-date remote sensing data (at least annually) for better management of the water resources in the basin.