Monitoring lakes' long-term water budget dynamics with photographetric techniques: The case of Denizli Acıgöl

One of the most important problems of humanity today is undoubtedly water deprivation and drought. It is known that in the last century, drought caused by global climate change has had a negative impact on freshwater resources. Within the scope of this study, Acıgöl, which is located in the lakes region of Turkey and is under the effect of serious drought, was investigated. It has been revealed by various studies and different methods that there have been significant decreases in the water volume of Acıgöl from the past to the present. Using analog and digital photogrammetric images in the 1960-2022 time period, the changes in the water volume and surface area of Acıgöl were calculated with high accuracy in a 62-year period. When meteorological parameters were examined in the 1960-2022 period, it was observed that there was an increase in atmospheric temperature and evaporation amounts and a decrease in precipitation amounts. In addition, land use maps were produced and changes in land cover in the 1960-2022 time period were determined by examining. It is understood that all these environmental indicators are significantly related to the decrease in Acıgöl surface area and water volume in the 1960-2022 time period