Investigation of the effects of wetlands on micro-climate

Abstract

Regulation of the microclimatic structure of a region by using land use planning is one of the important strategies, which is used to fight against climate change. The climatic structures of regions are also affected by wetlands as well as land use types. In the present study, based on this information, the micro-climatic effects at the 1 km and 10 km periphery of three dam lakes and two lakes (imranli Reservoir, Golova Reservoir, Dorteylul Reservoir, Lake Hafik and Lake Todurge), which are located within the boundaries of Sivas province, were investigated. Analyses were made using GIS (geographic information systems) and remote sensing techniques. The temperature values are obtained from the Landsat TM-5 images of 2007 summer season which belong to June 18, July 4, July 20, August 5. The calculated surface temperatures were related to the buffer areas of wetlands and land use classes. Buffer areas were formed of 2 types, for 10 km every 500 m and for 1 km every 100 m for each wetland. These buffer areas were cut by 45-degree angles within themselves and divided into 8 zones to increase accuracy by minimizing the effects of other factors (land use, topography, etc.) in the analyses. Analyses were performed separately for each circular zone and each land use. The results were statistically tested in 95% confidence interval. With the help of this study, the necessity of climate-sensitive land use planning was emphasized.