WEB-BASED TREE INFORMATION SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY OF KAHRAMANMARAS, TURKEY

Abstract

As well known, trees are not only true assets in urban areas but also part of our community's infrastructure. Therefore, they require care and maintenance same as other public properties. Without proper care, trees may cause personal injury or property damage. The main objective of this study was to develop a web-based tree information system for the two main boulevards of Kahramanmaras, Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan and Alpaslan Turkes boulevards. This research was completed in two parts. In the first part of this study, an inventory for small and large trees on the median strip of the boulevards was conducted. GPS coordinates, tree height, dbh, crown diameter, tree type (Deciduous/Evergreen) of each individual tree were gathered by doing ground measurements and field observations. Attributes of 774 trees were retrieved during the inventory. After tree inventory, a total of 11 tree species were identified and Pinus pinea was found to have the largest number of trees with 321 in the study area. In the second part of this research, a database was created for all the trees inventoried and then two web applications were created. The first one was web application with interactive legend for web-based tree information system that was created for general public using ArcGIS Online. Attributes of each tree are given to the user via pop-up window in this web application. This web application is publicly accessible to anyone who has access to internet. Users may interact with the web application via browsers in personal computers, tablets, or smartphones. The second web application was created for a site manager who has authority to add trees in the web-based tree information system.