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39-C02/CLI The 
| by the Belgian 
reo II progralle - 
  
  
IMPACT OF THE ATATURK DAM LAKE ON AGRO-METEOROLOGICAL ASPECTS 
OF THE SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA REGION USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS 
ANALYSIS 
0. Ozcan® *, B. Bookhagen® , N. Musaoglu® 
ITU, Center for Satellite Communications and Remote Sensing, 34469 Maslak Istanbul, Turkey 
® University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Geography, CA 93106-4060, USA 
° ITU, Civil Engineering Faculty, Department of Geomatics Engineering, 34469 Maslak Istanbul, Turkey 
KEY WORDS: Atatürk Dam Lake, GAP, Landsat time-series, Tasseled Cap transformation, Disturbance Index, RS, GIS. 
ABSTRACT: 
The Atatürk Dam is the fourth largest clay-cored rock fill dam in the world. It was constructed on the Euphrates River located in 
semi-arid Southeastern Turkey in the 1980s as the central component of a large-scale regional development project for the 
Southeastern Anatolia region (referred to as GAP). The construction began in 1983 and was completed in 1990. The dam and the 
hydroelectric power plant, which went into service after filling up the reservoir was accomplished in 1992. The Atatiirk Dam, which 
has a height of 169 m, a total storage capacity of 48.7 million m’, and a surface area of about 817 km? plays an important role in the 
development of Turkey’s energy and agriculture sectors. In this study, the spatial and temporal impacts of the Atatiirk Dam on agro- 
meteorological aspects of the Southeastern Anatolia region have been investigated. Change detection and environmental impacts due 
to water-reserve changes in Atatürk Dam Lake have been determined and evaluated using multi-temporal Landsat satellite imageries 
and meteorological datasets within a period of 1984 to 2011. These time series have been evaluated for three time periods. Dam 
construction period constitutes the first part of the study. Land cover/use changes especially on agricultural fields under the Atatürk 
Dam Lake and its vicinity have been identified between the periods of 1984 to 1992. The second period comprises the 10-year period 
after the completion of filling up the reservoir in 1992. At this period, Landsat and meteorological time-series analyses are examined 
to assess the impact of the Atatürk Dam Lake on selected irrigated agricultural areas. For the last 9-year period from 2002 to 2011, 
the relationships between seasonal water-reserve changes and irrigated plains under changing climatic factors primarily driving 
vegetation activity (monthly, seasonal, and annual fluctuations of rainfall rate, air temperature, humidity) on the watershed have been 
investigated using a 30-year meteorological time series. For all images, geometric corrections including digital elevation information 
and Tasseled Cap transformations were carried out to attain changes in surface reflectance and denoting disturbance of Landsat 
reflectance data. Consequently, thematic maps of the affected areas were created by using appropriate visualization and classification 
techniques in conjunction with geographical information system. The resulting dataset was used in a linear trend analysis to 
characterize spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation-cover development. Analysis has been conducted in ecological units that have 
been determined by climate and land cover/use. Based on the results of the trend analysis and the primary factor analysis, selected 
parts of South-eastern Anatolia region are analyzed. The results showed that approximately 368 km of agricultural fields have been 
affected because of inundation due to the Atatürk Dam Lake. However, irrigated agricultural fields have been increased by 56.3% of 
the total area (1552 km? of 2756km?) on Harran Plain within the period of 1984 — 2011. This study presents an effective method for 
time-series analysis that can be used to regularly monitor irrigated fields in the Southeastern Anatolia region. 
1. INTRODUCTION for these purposes by construction of dams. The Southeastern 
Anatolia Project is the largest of these types of projects in 
The concept of sustainable development in water based 
development projects includes determination and planning of 
the demands for the water through the project region (e.g. 
Tortajada, 2001). As a rapidly developing country Turkey, 
needs sufficient amount of irrigated agricultural products for 
growing population; cheap, continuous and high quality 
renewable energy for the industry; qualified water for domestic 
uses especially for the regions that are having low level of life 
standards with respect to the national average standards. 
For developing countries where a semi-arid climate is highly 
dominated like Turkey, dams, which are built and efficiently 
maintained, can be used for economic development purposes. 
Land and water resources of potential regions can be managed 
Turkey, which spans approximately 75,000 square kilometers 
and covers approximately 10% of all area of Turkey (Akyurek, 
2005). 
The Euphrates is the longest river of western Asia. It originates 
from Mount Ararat at 4,500 m above sea level near Lake Van. 
Then it flows south by losing 2 meters per kilometer in 
elevation in Turkey and crosses into Syria. Hydrological flow 
condition of the Euphrates River is the irregular between and 
within the years. The water is needed during the drought 
seasons for irrigation and power generation purposes. The 
constructions of retaining structures to regulate river flows are 
needed for irrigation and hydropower generation.