Determination of land cover and land use change by using remote sensing and gis methods in Shaqlawa region

It is important to evaluate land cover / use in order to better understand the relationship between people and the environment, to recognize the changes in the ecosystem and to provide a sustainable planning service. Along with the rapid increase in urbanization, changes in land cover and land use in the Shaqlawa region have been taking place. In this context, pursuing the right policies for the Shaqlawa region and establishing proper monitoring mechanisms are important for land cover / use. The aim of this study is to determine the land cover changes in the Shaqlawa region of Erbil city of Iraq using 2000, 2007 and 2015 Landsat 7 satellite images. In this context, the classification of the used satellite images is applied and land cover maps are prepared. Error matrices have been created and accuracy assessment has been tried to reach the amount of change in land cover. Overall, the results show that urban areas increased from 1.5% to 4.1% between 2000 and 2007, and from 4.1% to 9.4% between 2007 and 2015. Moreover, the spatial tendency of the settlement areas has been determined to increase in the western part of the Shaqlawa area. Based on the results, it is thought that the results obtained in this study can help to make a decision for urban planning.