REMOTE SENSING APPLICATION IN A SPECIALLY 
PROTECTED AREA (SMALL PARADISE) IN TURKEY 
Derya Maktav, Filiz Sunar, Sedat Kapdaslı, Nebiye Musaodlu 
|. T.U. Civil Engineering Faculty, Remote Sensing Dept., Maslak 80626 Istanbul, TURKEY 
Commission VII, Working Group 5 
KEY WORDS : Remote Sensing, Hydrology, Landsat, Classification, Change-Detection. 
ABSTRACT 
Dalyan Delta, the Iztuzu Beach and the Kóycegiz Lagoon are declared as Specially Protected Area in Turkey. In order to 
protect these areas, regular monitoring is required on a yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily basis. In addition, the 
results from monitoring must be evaluated in order to determine the requirements for preservation. Satellite remote 
sensing with its synoptic view capabilities is a very useful tool for this purpose. In this study, multitemporal Landsat 
TM data were used to investigate the stability of the Iztuzu Beach, the changes of the Dalyan Mouth and the seasonal 
changes of some swamp areas in the Kóycegiz Lagoon. 
1. Introduction 
The rapid growth of urbanization, population, tourism, 
industrialization and the unplanned and unconscious 
use of earth resources are major sources of 
environmental pollution. The damaging effects of 
environmental pollution to human health necessitates 
the conservation of natural areas in some selected 
regions of the earth. Therefore, in many countries, 
some flora and fauna are protected by laws and 
regulations to ensure that these precious natural 
resources which support human health and maintain 
the ecological balance are preserved for future 
generations. For example, in Turkey there are more 
than 10 protected areas. There are an additional 637 
suggested protection areas in the country. 
The study aims to monitor the stability of the Iztuzu 
Beach and also some coastal areas covered by 
swamps and reeds in the Kôycediz Lagoon, both being 
parts of one of the Specially Protected Areas in Turkey. 
Itis based on the results of field measurements related 
to the water quality and GPS measurements done in 
this area and on the Landsat Thematic Mapper images 
acquired at different dates. 
2. Study area 
Kéycediz Lake is a lagoon of tectonic origin extending 
I! a N-S direction south of the Kéycegiz Town. It is 
located on the southwestern coast of Turkey and 
discharges into the Aegean Sea through an 
approximately 10 km long shallow meandering Dalyan 
Channel. At the sea coast it changes into a delta which 
has a high water storage capacity with numerous 
narrow channels bordered by reeds. Two other small 
lakes, Sülüngür and lztuzu are also located here 
(Ozhan, 1988, TGV, 1993, Maktav et al 1994, Maktav 
et al, 1996). The inlet throat which is partly protected 
against the southwesterly waves by the Delikada Island 
located approximately 600 m offshore, is situated at the 
Western end of a barrier beach called Iztuzu. This 
465 
equilibrium beach of medium sized sand extends 
for approximately 5 km, bordered by headlands at both 
ends. About 3 km of the beach is tongue-shaped with 
water on both sides, where the beach width changes 
seasonally from 100 m to 250 m. At the northwest side 
of the inlet throat, there is a narrow beach at the foot of 
steep rocky hills (Figure 1)(Ozhan, 1988). 
Owing to the concern about excessive construction and 
the effects of tourism on the Dalyan Delta, especially at 
the point where the marine turtles (caretta carettas) 
lay their eggs (Figure 1, b), the region (including the 
lagoon, the channel and the delta) was declared a 
Specially Protected Area on 1988 (TCV, 1993). 
3. Data and the field measurements 
Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper image data of the study 
area in seven wavebands at a 30-m spatial resolution 
(thermal : 120 m) on 8 August 1984, on 19 August 
1988, on 27 July 1991 and on 11 November 1995 were 
used in addition to an earlier mosaic of aerial 
photographs and topographic maps at a scale of 
1: 25,000. 
The coordinates of the selected stations where sea- 
truth measurements were made in the lagoon were 
measured by a single channel Raystar 390 GPS 
Receiver for navigators with the memory capacity to 
store 300 waypoints. Microprocessor Oxygen-meter 
OXI 196 was used for oxygen measurements. Salinity 
and temperature measurements were made by 
Microprocessor Conductivity Meter LF 196. Depth 
measurements were accomplished with the FMV-603 
Video Sounder which determines the distance between 
its transducer and underwater objects and displays the 
results on a screen. For turbidity measurement the 
Secchi Disk was used. 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B7. Vienna 1996