Determination temporal changes of the coastline of the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul

Abstract

Coastal areas have always been attractive for humankind throughout the history. Today, it is known that nearly half of the population of the world lives on the coasts, and this ratio increases everyday. At the same time, coastal areas are also seen as places exposed to rapid changes in the world. In addition to the formal effects of the natural phenomena, human activities including the filling up projects to get area from the sea are effective factors on the coasts. Emerging technologies in conjunction with the construction of fill in coastal areas continues to increase steadily in recent years. An unplanned construction period has been experienced on the coasts of Istanbul due to rapid urbanization and wrong planning applications. This has led to significant changes in time and shoreline. Detection of temporal changes is critical for sustainable coastal development and planning. Regular data source for the history of this change that allows for the detection of satellite imagery is very important. In this study, Landsat satellite imageries were used to detect the previous and present borders of coastlines and to understand the temporal changes on these areas