Change detection and visualization of acid mine lakes using time series satellite image data in geographic information systems (GIS): Can (Canakkale) County,NW Turkey

Can, a county in the province of Canakkale, is one of the most prominent coal mining districts in Turkey. Many mining companies have been operating coal deposits for power generation and district heating in this region since 1980. Generally, small and medium-scale mining companies operate for short periods and abandon the operational land without providing any rehabilitation. Human intervention in the natural structure and topography of the earth surface causes large holes and deterioration in these areas. Artificial lakes occur because of surface discharge and underground leakage into abandoned open pit mines with high lignite sulfur content (0.21–14.36 wt %). Furthermore, these lakes gain acidic character due to acid generation from pyrite oxidation. Acid mine lakes are highly acidic (pH < 3.05) and have elevated concentrations of \({\text{SO}}_{4}^{2 - }\) , Fe and some metals. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the environmental conditions and demonstrate the development of a monitoring system for their possible changes in the acid mine lakes of the open cast lignite mining area on a regional scale. For this purpose, the data received from remote sensing satellites were used. Areal change detection and perimeter changes of nine acid mine lakes caused by coal mining companies in Can from 1977 to 2011, were determined using Landsat, Quickbird and Worldview satellite images. As a case study, an area of 9 km² was chosen for the variety of acid mine lakes. Using GIS software, satellite images were analyzed in time series, borders of acid mine lakes were digitized and converted into vector data format. At this stage, prior to the digitization, in order to create contrast on the satellite images, “stretch type” and “stretch values” were changed. The areal and perimeter changes were computed and presented via tables and graphics. In addition, thematic maps of the acid mine lakes were created and visualized. The results show that the number of acid mine lakes increased and these caused environmental risks due to their hydrochemical properties and areal increments.     

Review of water and soil contamination in and around Salihli geothermal field (Manisa,Turkey)

The town of Salihli is situated in Gediz Graben in the western Anatolia. This region is important in terms of industry, mining, geothermal energy, water sources, and agricultural production. Geothermal flow and anthropogenic activities in Salihli threaten the surrounding environment due to the contamination of cold groundwater, surface water, and soil. The goal of the present study is to determine the environmental effects of the geothermal and anthropogenic activities in Salihli on soil, stream sediments, and water. Stream sediments and farm soil have been contaminated by substances derived from geothermal and industrial effluents. To this end, the quality review of the water was completed and the heavy metal levels in stream sediment samples were measured to determine the extent of contamination. The elements As, B, Br, Fe, and Ni are the major contaminants present in surface water and groundwater in the study area. The concentrations of these elements excess tolerance limits of international water standards. Gibbsite, K-mica, kaolinite, sepiolite, halite, sulfur, willemite, and Pb(OH)₂ might be precipitated as scales at low temperatures on the soil; this could be interpreted as a resultant from soil contamination. The concentrations of 17 elements (As, Ba, B, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mo, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sr, and Zn) were measured in samples from stream sediments and surface soils. In the study area, especially geothermal and anthropogenic activities give rise to environmental pollution.     

Synsedimentary deformations in member 2 of the Mila Formation in the Central Alborz Mountains,Northern Iran

In Alborz Mountains, the thickness of sediments in Member 2 of the Mila Formation (Middle Cambrian) underwent dramatic and abrupt deformations, which were accompanied by normal and reverse faults and asymmetrical folds. These deformed sediments are covered by parallel beds both in the upper and lower sides. The existence of such extension and compression structures adjacent to each other indicates the influence of non-tectonic factors in their evolution. These deformations induced by downslope gliding of sediment packages are fully compatible with the dislocation model of Farrell (J Struct Geol 6:727–736, 1984) and Farrell and Eaton (1987). Moreover, the occurrence of synsedimentary deformations in a vast area in Alborz Mountains reinforces the probability of the impact of seismic shocks in their formation. In fact, incessant seismic events in the Middle Cambrian led to numerous submarine slumpings in the sediments of Member 2 of the Mila Formation.     

Statistical analysis of surface urban heat island intensity variations: A case study of Babol city,Iran

The urban heat island is considered as one of the most important climate change phenomena in urban areas, which can result in remarkable negative effects on flora, concentration of pollutants, air quality, energy and water consumption, human health, ecological and economic impacts, and even on global warming. The variation analysis of the surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) is important for understanding the effect of urbanization and urban planning. The objective of this study was to present a new strategy based on the Shannon’s entropy and Pearson chi-square statistic to investigate the spatial and temporal variations of the SUHII. In this study, Landsat TM, ETM+, OLI and TIRS images, MODIS products, meteorological data, topographic and population maps of the Babol city, Iran, from 1985 to 2017, and air temperature data recorded by ground recorder devices in 2017 were used. First, Single-Channel algorithm was used to estimate land surface temperature (LST), and the maximum likelihood classifier was employed to classify Landsat images. Then, based on LST maps, surface urban heat island ratio index was employed to calculate the SUHII. Further, several statistical methods, such as the degree-of-freedom, degree-of-sprawl and degree-of-goodness, were used to analyse the SUHII variation along different geographic directions and in various time periods. Finally, correlation between various parameters such as air temperature, SUHII, population variation and degree-of-goodness index values were investigated. The results indicated that the SUHII value increased by 24% in Babol over different time periods. The correlation coefficient yielded 0.82 between the values of the difference between the mean air temperature of the urban and suburbs and the SUHII values for the geographic directions. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient between the population variation and the degree-of-goodness index values reached 0.8. The results suggested that the SUHII variation of Babol city had a high degree-of-freedom, high degree-of-sprawl and negative degree-of-goodness.     

Geochemical modeling,fate distribution,and risk exposure of potentially toxic metals in the surface sediment of the Shyok suture zone,northern Pakistan

The objective of the current study was to assess the contamination of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in weathered surface sediment, along stream tributaries, and surrounding area of the river Chitral, Shyok suture zone district Chitral, Pakistan. To understand the geochemical features of 113 sediment, samples were collected from the Mirkhani and Drosh area. Then, different statistical tools including the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), and ecological risk assessment (ERA) were used to unravel the origin, intensity, and exposure level of PTMs to control risk and restore the ecosystem within the study area. The results for the PTMs namely nickle (Ni), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and cobalt (Co) in Mirkhani and Drosh were in the following ranges: 10–150, 15–210, 15–250, 0.08–1.00, 10–70, 76–240 and 14–51; and 13–240, 17–210, 15–150, 0.08–0.60, 7–140, 47–150 and 13–36 mg/kg, respectively. In consequence, the potential ecological risk caused by Pb, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, and Zn is reflected by the percentages of samples with an ecological risk index (ERI) greater than one which were 100%, 91%, 100%, 100%, 92%, and 100%, respectively. However, the overall mean decreasing order of ecological risk of PTMs in the district Chitral was Pb > Ni > Cu > Co > Cr > Zn > Cd. Moreover, the PCA yielded 78% variability which indicated that mineral prospects play an important role in the contamination of sediment. Furthermore, the mineral phases of Pb and Zn suggested supersaturation, while that for Cd revealed unsaturation. The results of Igeo, ERI, and CA indicated contamination of PTMs in the study area. The ERI value of Pb, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, and Zn was higher than 1 suggesting an ecological risk in the study area. Moreover, the current study showed the dominance of geogenic contamination with major contributions from ultramafic rock and known mineral prospects. Therefore, contaminated sediment of the Shyok suture zone is extremely detrimental to the aquatic ecosystem of the study area.     

Sea level variability at Antalya and Mente? tide gauges in Turkey: atmospheric, steric and land motion contributions

Sea level trends and interannual variability at Antalya and Menteş tide gauges are investigated during the 1985–2001 period, quantifying the roles of atmospheric, steric and local land motion contributions. Tide gauge sea level measurements, temperature/salinity climatologies and GPS data are used in the analyses and the results are compared with the output of a barotropic model forced by atmospheric pressure and wind. The overall sea level trends at two tide gauges collocated with GPS are in the range of 5.5 to 7.9 mm/yr during the study period, but showing different behaviour in the sub-periods 1985–1993 and 1993–2001 due to variations in the contributing factors both in space and time. After the removal of the atmospheric forcing and steric contribution from sea level records, the resulting trends vary between 1.9 to 4.5 mm/yr in Antalya and −1.2 to −11.6 mm/yr in Menteş depending on the period considered. Vertical land movement estimated from GPS data seems to explain the high positive residual trend in Antalya during the whole period. On the other hand, the source of the highly negative sea level trend of about −14 mm/yr in Menteş during 1985–1993 could not be resolved with the available datasets. Interannual variability of wind and atmospheric pressure appear to dominate the sea level at both tide gauges during the study period. Atmospheric and steric contributions together account for ∼50% of the total sea level variance at interannual time scales. Mass induced sea level variations which were not considered in this study may help to close the sea level trend budgets as well as to better explain the interannual sea level variance.     

基于FTIR和MODIS数据估算新疆沙漠宽波段地表比辐射率

基于FTIR和MODIS数据,建立了新疆沙漠宽波段（8～13.5 μm）地表比辐射率的最优估算模型。首先,利用傅立叶变换热红外光谱仪观测的塔克拉玛干沙漠地表比辐射率光谱数据,结合同期MODIS温度/比辐射率产品MOD11A1的29、31和32波段比辐射率值和MOD09A1的第7波段反射率值,建立宽波段地表比辐射率估算模型,并分别采用观测数据和光谱库数据验证了模型的精度,估算结果的均方根误差分别为0.0041和0.0081。其次,选择最优估算模型,利用MODIS数据,估算了新疆4个沙漠的宽波段地表比辐射率,得到了沙漠地表比辐射率的空间分布特征。结果表明：塔克拉玛干沙漠和库鲁克库姆沙漠气候干燥稳定,地表比辐射率分布较为均匀,范围为0.850～0.915;古尔班通古特沙漠受到植被和地表水分的影响,比辐射率空间分布不均匀,范围为0.890～0.915;库木塔格沙漠的地表比辐射率分布与其羽状地表类似,范围为0.860～0.910。     

Behavior of Shallow Strip Footing on Twin Voids

This paper numerically examines the bearing capacity and failure mechanism of a shallow strip foundation constructed above twin voids. The voids may refer to caves, caverns, underground aqueduct or tunnels due to water seepage, chemical reaction or deliberately excavated in soil deposit. The ability of numerical model to accurately predict the system behavior is evaluated by performing verification analyses on existing researches. Subsequently, a parametric study carried out to reveal the influence of size of footing/voids and their location (i.e. depth, spacing, eccentricity) on the bearing capacity of footing. To clarify the failure mechanism, the distribution of shear strain in the soil for different scenarios is assessed. The parametric study provided a new framework to determine the bearing capacity and the mode of failure for footings on voids. Based on the results, a criterion can be issued to avoid collapse of footing/voids regarding the shape, location and size of voids. The results can also be used to design construction of a footing on existing voids while the acquired failure mechanisms can be appointed to develop analytical solutions for this problem. Results demonstrated that a critical depth for voids and a critical distance between them exist where the influence on the ultimate bearing capacity of footing disappears.     

Estimation of the Land Surface Emissivity in the Hinterland of Taklimakan Desert

An accurate accounting of land surface emissivity(ε) is important both for the retrieval of surface temperatures and the calculation of the longwave surface energy budgets.Since ε is one of the important parameterizations in land surface models(LSMs),accurate accounting also improves the accuracy of surface temperatures and sensible heat fluxes simulated by LSMs.In order to obtain an accurate emissivity,this paper focuses on estimating ε from data collected in the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert by two different methods.In the first method,ε was derived from the surface broadband emissivity in the 8–14 μm thermal infrared atmospheric window,which was determined from spectral radiances observed by field measurements using a portable Fourier transform infrared spectrometer,the mean ε being 0.9051.The second method compared the observed and calculated heat fluxes under nearneutral atmospheric stability and estimated ε indirectly by minimizing the root-mean-square difference between them.The result of the second method found a mean value of 0.9042,which is consistent with the result by the first method.Although the two methods recover ε from different field experiments and data,the difference of meanvalues is 0.0009.The first method is superior to the indirect method,and is also more convenient.