ABSTRACT
The recent dynamics of terrestrial water storage (TWS) and groundwater storage (GWS) fluctuations were investigated based on the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) observations over 25 basins of Türkiye. Coarse-resolution GRACE estimates were downscaled based on the Random Forest algorithm. The impacts of precipitation (P) and evapotranspiration (ET) on the variations of water storage were also assessed. The findings demonstrated good performance for the RF model in simulating finer resolution estimates of TWS. The results indicated a diminishing trend of TWS and its hydrologic components over all the basins from 2003 to 2020. The Dogu Akdeniz Basin with the annually decreasing TWS and GWS of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] was the most critical basin of Türkiye. The least storage loss was observed in the Bati Karadeniz Basin with the annual TWS and GWS loss of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively. Based on the results, Türkiye has lost, on average, an estimated [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of its TWS and GWS, respectively, which are equivalent to the total storage loss of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of TWS and GWS during the last 18 years. The results also indicated that P and ET interact differently with the variations of TWS and GWS. The net water flux was revealed to be partially correlated with the total water storage fluctuations, suggesting the governing role of other deriving forces particularly the anthropogenic factors in the spatiotemporal variations of Türkiye's water storage; therefore, a sector-specific analysis of the water storage variations is crucial for the country, particularly by concentrating more on the dynamics of GWS.
Subject(s)
Groundwater , Remote Sensing Technology , Water , Environmental Monitoring/methods , ClimateABSTRACT
A surface urban heat island (SUHI) is a significant meteorological phenomenon of the microclimate and environment in urban territories. Knowledge about the variations of SUHI is critical for urban planning and public welfare. In the current study, the seasonal and spatial changes of the Istanbul SUHI and its interactions with spectral indicators of the urban heat phenomenon including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), tasseled cap wetness (TCW), and surface albedo were analyzed. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) L2 thermal products (brightness temperature) of Landsat 8 imageries were used to calculate land surface temperature (LST) values. The thermal islands of the study area were detected based on the Urban Thermal Field Variation Index method. The retrieved LST values showed acceptable agreement with in situ observations of mean daily temperature for all the seasons. Monthly precipitation, however, demonstrated good correlation with summer and autumn LSTs. It is found that the central parts of the metropolitan area were subject to the most intense SUHI in the spring and summer seasons. Outskirt areas showed higher thermal values during cooler seasons of autumn and winter. The results of spatio-temporal interactions of SUHI and the spectral indicators revealed a negative correlation for NDVI and TCW and a positive correlation for surface albedo during different seasons from summer 2017 to spring 2018. The highest and lowest correlations were found between SUHI and TCW (spring) and surface albedo (winter), respectively. The regression results overall suggested that TCW and NDVI were the best indicators of SUHI in Istanbul. Surface albedo was not recommended for seasonal monitoring practices of SUHI in the study area due to the high differences in its seasonal interactions.
