Monitoring Amu Darya River channel dynamics using remote sensing techniques aided by google earth engine

In this study, aims at monitoring Amu Darya River Channel Dynamics using Remote Sensing techniques within Google Earth Engine (GEE). The Amu Darya River covers vast areas within the borders of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The upper part of the Amu Darya River, the international border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, have been investigated in terms of river channel dynamics. Thus, for this purpose, satellite imageris from four different periods ten years apart (1990-2000, 2000-2010, 2010-2020), have been used to map and monitor the dynamics of the river over the last three decades. The classification of the images was conducted in GEE using Landsat imagery. In addition to the river mapping and monitoring, a land cover change detection in the study area has been made. The results showed that the increase in irrigated areas, in the four specified periods was significant and played an important role in increasing the vulnerability of the study area to soil erosion which leads to river channel dynamics. The results also showed that the use of Landsat and GEE can be a significant source of updated data for mapping and monitoring river dynamics, with a classification accuracy of the water areas higher than 90%. For future studies, we recommend using satellite imagery with a higher spatial and spectral resolution, like Sentinel-2, for more detailed investigation. Keywords: Amu Darya, River Dynamics, Google Earth Engine, Classification, Remote Sensing.