Potential visibility, growth, and technological innovation in offshore wind turbines installed in Europe.

One of the primary trends in the technological growth of offshore wind turbines is the movement toward larger-rotor machines with higher hub height. Recently, offshore wind turbine sizes, especially hub height, rotor diameter, and nameplate capacity, have increased dramatically and are expected to increase further. This growth in offshore wind turbine size enhances the turbine power coefficient for the same wind speeds significantly and also led to the reductions of levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and total installed cost (TIC) of the turbines. This work examines the growth in the nameplate size and capacity of offshore wind turbines installed in Europe through the years as new installations and total installations. Effects and results of this growth in nameplate size and capacity on the LCOE, TIC, wind farm capacity, turbine-specific power capacity, turbine capacity factor (CF), sea surface area needed per GW, and the number of turbines per GW are examined and discussed in detail. As a result, this study aims to contribute to the literature and provide technical and innovative information to turbine manufacturers by presenting various aspects of offshore wind turbine technology development in Europe. The rapid technological developments in this sector show that the average CF has increased from 42 to 44% in the last decade, and the LCOE value has reduced from 0.156 USD/kWh to 0.096 USD/kWh.

Analysis of road development and associated agricultural land use change.

Development of road network is one of the strongest drivers of habitat fragmentation. It interferes with ecological processes that are based on material and energy flows between landscape patches. Therefore, changes in temporal patterns of roads may be regarded as important landscape-level environmental indicators. The aim of this study is to analyze road development and associated agricultural land use change near the town of Erdemli located in the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The study area has witnessed an unprecedented development of agriculture since the 2000s. This process has resulted with the expansion of the road network. Associations between agricultural expansion and road development were investigated. High-resolution satellite images of 2004 and 2015 were used to analyze spatial and temporal dimensions of change. Satellite images were classified using a binary approach, in which land areas were labeled as either "agriculture" or "non-agriculture." Road networks were digitized manually. The study area was divided into 23 sublandscapes using a regular grid with 1-km cell spacing. Percentage of landscape (PL) for agriculture and road density (RD) metrics were calculated for the earlier (2004) and later (2015) years. Metric calculations were performed separately for each of the 23 sublandscapes in order to understand spatial diversity of agriculture and road density. Study results showed that both RD and PL exhibited similar increasing trends between 2004 and 2015.

Analysis of landscape changes as an indicator for environmental monitoring.

Mediterranean coastal landscapes are complex systems that are subject to rapid and extensive changes due to unprecedented human interference. Changes in these landscapes are strong indications of anthropogenic disturbances that should be monitored carefully in order to make effective management decisions. Landscape changes can be analyzed using many qualitative and quantitative techniques. In this respect, the importance of land cover information arises from the fact that any change in the composition and/or configuration of land cover can be used as a landscape-level environmental indicator. Therefore, proper understanding of spatial and temporal characteristics of this environmental attribute is of vital importance as it enables decision-makers to reveal causes of environmental issues and to cope with consequences of mismanagement. The aims of this paper are to analyze landscape-level changes using the largest patch index (LPI) as a simple pattern indicator and provide guidelines for studying change phenomena that take place in the Mediterranean coastal areas. In this respect, changes in the LPI values for agricultural and built-up areas in three different sites were analyzed using georeferenced Ikonos and Quickbird images. The concepts of pattern and process were highlighted as important indicators for studying landscapes and understanding their change.

Monitoring changes in landscape pattern: use of Ikonos and Quickbird images.

This paper aimed to analyze short-term changes in landscape pattern that primarily results from building development in the east coast of Mersin Province (Turkey). Three sites were selected. Ikonos (2003) and Quickbird (2009) images for these sites were classified, and land cover transformations were quantitatively analyzed using cross-tabulation of classification results. Changes in landscape structure were assessed by comparing the calculated values of area/edge and shape metrics for the earlier and later dates. Area/edge metrics included percentage of land and edge density, while shape metrics included perimeter-area ratio, fractal dimension, and related circumscribing circle (RCC) metrics. Orchards and buildings were dominating land cover classes. Variations in patch edge, size, and shapes were also analyzed and discussed. Degradation of prime agricultural areas due to building development and implications of such development on habitat fragmentation were highlighted.

Mapping availability of sea view for potential building development areas.

Scenic attraction can be regarded as one of the most important factors for recreation- and/or tourism-oriented landscape planning and management processes. Sea view is generally one of the most predominant scenery components of coastal landscapes. Therefore, presence and degree of its availability contribute to scenic attraction of residential development sites. This attribute of the environment can be quantified by GIS-based visibility analyses that rely on multiple viewshed calculations, during which observation and/or target locations are taken as variables. The main aim of this paper is to analyze availability of sea view for currently undeveloped (i.e., non-built-up) areas in an urbanized coast in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. Four study sites (sites 1-4) of varying geomorphological and built-up features, located approximately 40 km south of the city of Mersin, were taken into consideration. Multiple viewshed analyses were performed using a high-resolution terrain model and 541, 533, 540, and 532 observation points for the sites, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Impact of topography and built-up features on sea visibility was discussed in the light of visibility information classified as percentage visibility of the sea surface available from each of the sites.

Bi-temporal analysis of landscape changes in the easternmost mediterranean deltas using binary and classified change information.

The aim of this study is (1) to quantify landscape changes in the easternmost Mediterranean deltas using bi-temporal binary change detection approach and (2) to analyze relationships between conservation/management designations and various categories of change that indicate type, degree and severity of human impact. For this purpose, image differencing and ratioing were applied to Landsat TM images of 1984 and 2006. A total of 136 candidate change images including normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and principal component analysis (PCA) difference images were tested to understand performance of bi-temporal pre-classification analysis procedures in the Mediterranean delta ecosystems. Results showed that visible image algebra provided high accuracies than did NDVI and PCA differencing. On the other hand, Band 5 differencing had one of the lowest change detection performances. Seven superclasses of change were identified using from/to change categories between the earlier and later dates. These classes were used to understand spatial character of anthropogenic impacts in the study area and derive qualitative and quantitative change information within and outside of the conservation/management areas. Change analysis indicated that natural site and wildlife reserve designations fell short of protecting sand dunes from agricultural expansion in the west. East of the study area, however, was exposed to least human impact owing to the fact that nature conservation status kept human interference at a minimum. Implications of these changes were discussed and solutions were proposed to deal with management problems leading to environmental change.

Comparing the utility of image algebra operations for characterizing landscape changes: the case of the Mediterranean coast.

The aim of this study is to compare various image algebra procedures for their efficiency in locating and identifying different types of landscape changes on the margin of a Mediterranean coastal plain, Cukurova, Turkey. Image differencing and ratioing were applied to the reflective bands of Landsat TM datasets acquired in 1984 and 2006. Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) differencing were also applied. The resulting images were tested for their capacity to detect nine change phenomena, which were a priori defined in a three-level classification scheme. These change phenomena included agricultural encroachment, sand dune afforestation, coastline changes and removal/expansion of reed beds. The percentage overall accuracies of different algebra products for each phenomenon were calculated and compared. The results showed that some of the changes such as sand dune afforestation and reed bed expansion were detected with accuracies varying between 85 and 97% by the majority of the algebra operations, while some other changes such as logging could only be detected by mid-infrared (MIR) ratioing. For optimizing change detection in similar coastal landscapes, underlying causes of these changes were discussed and the guidelines for selecting band and algebra operations were provided.

Post-classification comparison of land cover using multitemporal Landsat and ASTER imagery: the case of Kahramanmaras, Turkey.

This study assessed land cover (LC) changes in Kahramanmaras (K.Maras) and its environs by using multitemporal Landsat and ASTER imagery, respectively belong to 1989, 2000 and 2004. A priori defined nine land cover classes in the classification scheme were urban and built-up, forest, sparsely vegetated areas, grassland, vegetated stream beds, unvegetated stream beds, bare areas, crop fields, and water bodies. Individual classifications were employed using the combination of both unsupervised and supervised classification methods. Iterative Self Organizing Data Analysis (ISODATA) was used to reduce spectral variation in the scenes arising from complex pattern of crop fields. Maximum Likelihood classifier was used in the LC classification of the individual images. Image pairs of consecutive dates were compared by overlaying the thematic LC maps and cross-tabulating the LC statistics. Urbanization and expansion of agriculture were the major reasons for the dramatic LC conversions. The amount of conversion from crop fields to water occurred as large as 927.67 ha, accounting for 73% of the total land-to-water conversion. Conversions to agriculture have mainly been occurred from grasslands and sparsely vegetated areas as large as 1,314.95 and 1,325.84 ha, respectively. Urban coverage doubled in this period as a result of 1,443.45 ha of increase. Urban area increased in the second period from 2,920 to 3,526 ha. Conversions to agriculture occurred at high amounts. A total of 1,075.79 ha area changed from sparsely vegetated areas to crop fields. A landscape-level environmental monitoring scheme based on satellite remote sensing was proposed for effective environmental resource management.

Analysing urban expansion and land use suitability for the city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey, and its surrounding region.

This study aimed at quantifying changes in urban area of the city of Kahramanmaras (K.Maras) between 1948 and 2006, and analysing suitability of existing land use (LU) to the land potential. Urban change information was derived from two black-white monoscopic aerial photographs, and IKONOS and the QuickBird images acquired in 1948, 1985, 2000 and 2006, respectively. QuickBird image and soil map with 1:25,000 scale were used to analyze suitability of the current LU pattern to the land potential. The findings showed that the urban area of K.Maras has expanded approximately 13 times during the past six decades. According to current LU and the soil map, productive and moderately productive soils were largely (73.2%) allocated for agricultural activities, which means that there was a strong consistency between the agricultural LU type and the land capability. However, widespread agriculture on the non-productive soils, and urbanization on the fertile agricultural lands were assessed as unsuitable from sustainable LU viewpoint. Considering this phenomenon, it is possible to say that rapid urban expansion has a growing pressure on the fertile agricultural soils. Monitoring LU changes, particularly urbanization, and developing effective LU plans based on the land capability were determined as the most important approaches to encourage sustainable use of land.

Monitoring urbanization of Iskenderun, Turkey, and its negative implications.

This study aimed to analyze long-term urban land use (LU) change and its negative implications on the coastal environment of Iskenderun, Turkey. Information on urban LU change for the 144-year period between 1858 and 2002 was extracted from a historic city plan, black-white monoscopic aerial photographs, and Landsat ETM+ imagery. According to the results, areal extent of urban areas has increased approximately 40 times during the past 144 years. The population growth as a result of industrial developments and permanent migration was main driving force to the urbanization. Environmental problems that resulted from rapid development in the region such as air, water and soil pollution were highlighted and some recommendations were made in the light of qualitative and quantitative information on the urbanization and its negative consequences.

Monitoring environmental changes in the Mediterranean coastal landscape: the case of Cukurova, Turkey.

This paper describes a remote sensing approach used to monitor temporal land use/cover (LULC) changes in Cukurova, an extensive coastal plain in the southeast Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The area has varied terrain ranging from low-lying alluvial deposits to rocky hills and mountains characterized by limestone outcrops. The ecological and economic importance of the area can be attributed to the existence of important coastal ecosystems (e.g., wetlands and sand dunes) and a wide range of industries located along the eastern coast. Temporal changes in the coastal landscape between 1984 and 2000 were evaluated using digital interpretation of remotely sensed satellite data. Pairwise comparison methods were used to quantify changes from 1984 to 1993 and 1993 to 2000 using multitemporal Landsat TM and ETM+ images, acquired in 1984, 1993, and 2000, respectively. Total change area was 2448 ha from 1984 to 1993 and increased more than twofold, to 6072 ha from 1993 to 2000. Change trends were determined using the information provided from individual change detection outputs of different periods. The most prominent changes were estimated to have occurred in agriculture, urban, and natural vegetation cover. Agriculture has increasingly grown over marginal areas, whereas urban development occurred at the expense of prime croplands across both time steps.