Determining the Effect of Urbanization on Agricultural Lands Using Remote Sensing (UA) and Geographic Information System (GIS) Techniques

Abstract

Agriculture has been the main source of livelihood for human beings for centuries, as it feeds the population, provides employment, and is used as an industrial raw material. For centuries, there has been a balance between natural processes and human activities agricultural areas. Technological developments, population growth, and urban that occurred with the industrial revolution started the process of rapid deterioration of natural resources. For this reason, the main purpose of the study is; It aims to determine the spatial change of urbanization in different years and the effect of this change on agricultural lands by using "Remote sensing methods and Geographical information systems" belonging to Selçuklu District of Konya Province in Turkey, where there is a significant shrinkage in the agricultural land presence from year to year. In the study; NDVI and NDBI indexes were calculated on Landsat 5-8 satellite images, based on GIS, and distribution maps were prepared to visualize the changes in urban and agricultural areas for the years 2001, 2014 and 2021. It has been determined that the agricultural areas, which were 79,300,63 ha in 2001, decreased to 50,167,97 ha in 2021, and the urban areas, which were 9,265,19 ha in 2001, expanded to 15,690.5 ha in 2021. In addition, land capability classes and soil distribution maps of the study area were created and areas that were not suitable for settlement were determined. As a result; In the sectoral sense, while there are gains on one side, there are losses on the other. For this reason, it has been determined that the expansion in urban areas means the narrowing of agricultural areas in particular, that urban areas have grown by 3.35% in the last 20 years, and a loss of 15.18% has been experienced in agricultural areas. In addition, it has been determined that settlements and other artificial areas spread on alluvial lands and agricultural production lands.