Cilo Dağı’nda Buzul İzlemesi İçin Çok Zamanlı Bir Değişim Analizi ve Haritalaması Yaklaşımı Geliştirilmesi

Abstract

In this study, optical remote sensing methods were utilized for the detection and analysis of glaciers located on Mount Cilo in the Hakkari province of Turkey, commonly referred to as the Cilo Glaciers. In addition to a review of glacier monitoring studies in the literature, previ-ous works related to the Cilo Glaciers were analyzed. An evaluation was conducted taking into account the findings from previous studies in the region. Given the increasing effects of climate change and global warming, which are causing glaciers to melt and even disappear, it becomes essential to conduct such studies for environmental monitoring and global climate change modeling purposes. Studies conducted based on the oldest available data related to Cilo in previous years have revealed the extent of melting. Within the scope of this thesis, data concerning the speed and direction of melting within specific periods were obtained using annual Sentinel-2 satellite images. Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI), Normalized Difference Snow and Ice Index (NDSII), Normalized Difference Glacier Index (NDGI), Normalized Difference Principal Component Snow Index (NDPCSI), which are among the most frequently used glacier detection indices in the literature, were employed to obtain these data. These indices were compared for their accuracy using reference data, which were obtai-ned from aerial orthophotos from the year 2019 presented on the HGM Küre platform of the General Directorate of Mapping (Harita Genel Müdürlüğü - HGM). A change analysis was conducted between the years 2017 and 2023, and the results were related with the meteorolo-gical data. This thesis demonstrated that the use of cloud-free Sentinel-2 images can be re-commended the for systematic monitoring and tracking changes in glaciers by employing the NDSII index.