Browsing by Author "Varol, Tugrul"

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Base alteration of some heavy metal concentrations on local and seasonal in Bartin River.
(2019-08-28T00:00:00Z) Ucun Ozel, Handan; Ozel, Halil Baris; Cetin, Mehmet; Sevik, Hakan; Gemici, Betul Tuba; Varol, Tugrul
Fresh water resources have always been an extremely invaluable economic and strategic resource in the world. There are about 1.4 billion people who have no access to pure water resources mainly due to the discharge of 95% of unpurified wastewater and 70% of industrial wastes into water resources in underdeveloped and developing countries. More than half of the world's rivers are contaminated. Eighty percent of diseases are caused by contaminated waters in developing countries. Among the pollutants in these streams, heavy metals are of particular significance, as heavy metals do not dissolve and degenerate easily in nature. They also tend to bio-accumulate. This is why determining heavy metal concentrations is of great importance because it can help detect risk zones and risk levels. This study aims to determine the alteration of some heavy metal concentrations during a year in Bartin River on a point and seasonal base. Within the scope of the study, samples were collected from 5 chosen locations on Bartin River during a year and the alteration of Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Ni, and Pb concentration amounts were determined monthly. As a result of the study, it was determined that there were various rates of contamination with heavy metals at all stations, and that the amount of all studied heavy metal concentrations decreased depending on seasonal alteration when precipitation and hence the flow rates were high, and the highest concentrations were calculated in samples that were collected from L3 and L5 stations. Results shows that some of the toxic metals' accumulations are higher than the suggestion of value, which recommended that the Bartin River is to some extent a toxic metal polluted river and that animals are not totally safe. Since this study constitutes a sample, all international samples should be controlled especially in the Organized Industrial Zone and foundation areas and the wastewater entering the river should be controlled and the pollution source should be determined and precautions should be taken. According to the results of the study, it also shows the water quality of the rivers in general. Pollution levels of rivers should be taken into account in the use of river water and care should be taken to use river water directly or indirectly in agricultural activities that may cause harm to human health. The results of this study can be a guide for identifying suitable areas to use the water of rivers. In future river planning, these studies will have an important guide value.
Determining potential planting areas in urban regions.
(2019-02-13T00:00:00Z) Varol, Tugrul; Gormus, Sevgi; Cengiz, Serhat; Ozel, Halil Baris; Cetin, Mehmet
Impermeable surfaces are getting larger in Turkey, as they are in most parts of the world as urban sprawl increases. The increase in impermeable surfaces leads to air pollution, floods, and overflows due to changes in urban landscapes and ecosystems. In order to prevent such damages, impermeable surfaces must be reduced by the means of urban afforestation. The main purpose of this study is to determine which areas are suitable for urban afforestation, and thus to improve the ecological conditions of the city. Accordingly, the study adopts a method that takes urban density into account. Satellite image classification, canopy measurement and determination of potential afforestation areas have been performed within the boundaries of Bartın Municipality. The IKONOS satellite images have been taken as a base for the study, which has been carried out via ENVI, GIS, and SPSS techniques and Tree Canopy Cover. By excluding the too-small spaces within the study area, as well as the ones too close to infrastructural facilities, I have been able to identify potential planting areas using GIS-based decision-making mechanisms. The existing trees and other plant covers have been noted in order to plan the potential plant cover.Considering the locational suitability of the planting areas and the canopy of the trees, the planting areas have been set out using three grid types: 15 × 15 m (large tree), 10 × 10 m (medium tree), and 5 × 5 m (small tree). A total of 29,773 potential trees have been planned for. After corrections, the potential canopy cover has been calculated to be 0.71 km. Of the potential trees, 93.34% are small, 5.23% are medium, and 1.43% are large trees. If the potential planting areas determined in this study are forested as calculated, the canopy in Bartın city will increase by approximately 2%. In the city, where impermeable surface areas have expanded because of rapid urban sprawl, this new increase will make an important contribution to the improvement of the city's ecosystem.
Influence of climatic factor of changes in forest fire danger and fire season length in Turkey.
(2021-01-03T00:00:00Z) Ertugrul, Mertol; Varol, Tugrul; Ozel, Halil Baris; Cetin, Mehmet; Sevik, Hakan
In contrast to the expectations of an increase in annual fire activity and the severity of fire season due to climate change and large fires, which have been occurring in recent years, a downtrend has been identified in fire activity in many studies conducted for the whole of Europe in recent years. Similarly, in Turkey, according to the General Directorate of Forestry statistics, while there is an increase in the number of annual fires, the burnt area has a downtrend pattern. In this study, fire activity and climate data statistics for Turkey were examined along with the fire season length and severity. The results obtained conform with the studies conducted in places from Spain at the westernmost part of Mediterranean Europe to Israel at the easternmost part of the Mediterranean. Considering the changes in temperatures, temperature rise of 2 to 3 °C was detected at all stations in the study area. No decrease was observed in the average temperatures at any of the stations within the study period between 1940 and 2018. On the other hand, the precipitation trend varied according to the stations. Although there have been increases in precipitation in Fethiye, Isparta, and Marmaris since 1960, the decrease in precipitation by 132 mm in Afyon since 1970 and the decrease in precipitation by 137 mm in Bodrum since 1940 are attention-grabbing. These stations are followed by Izmir station with 66 mm and Cesme station with 37 mm of decrease, despite being smaller decreases. In the study, the long-term (1940-2018) data of the meteorological stations discussed within the study, the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) and the Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC) values were calculated. According to the FWI results used in determining the severity and length of fire season on the coastline of Turkey from the northern Aegean to Antalya, the likelihood of large fires decreased by about 52% in 2018 compared to 1970. This decrease in FWI value indicates that the fire severity is reduced. The specified decrease in fire severity also explains the reason of the decrease in the burnt area that occurred over the years in Turkey. No significant change was observed in the FFMC values indicating the possibility of human-induced fires between 1970 and 2018.
Investigation of the relationship between burned areas and climate factors in large forest fires in theÇanakkaleregion.
(2019-11-09T00:00:00Z) Ertugrul, Mertol; Ozel, Halil Baris; Varol, Tugrul; Cetin, Mehmet; Sevik, Hakan
Fires pose a serious threat to the forests that lay on the western and southern coastline of Turkey that start with North Aegean coasts and end with the provincial boundaries of Hatay. Çanakkale, a western province of Turkey, is located in the North Aegean boundary and its topography (Dardanelles Strait), climate, and vegetation cover combine to form an inviting recipe to forest fires. Although the province is located in a transitional zone in terms of climate and vegetation, each year it witnesses highly dry and hot fire seasons. Thus, large forest fires occur periodically. In this research, the relationship between the large periodic fires (larger than 100 ha) and the climate data was investigated, with a particular focus on the most severe 8 fire seasons from 1969 to 2007. We established that there is a relationship between 1977, 1985, and 1986 fire seasons and the climate data for the corresponding periods. The remaining 5 seasons in which conflagrations occurred were also found to coincide with the days with high daily severity indices (DSR). These are 1969, 1977, 1985, 1987, and 2008. Additionally, 2008 was determined as the year with the highest fire risk, followed by year 1969.
Prediction of soil-bearing capacity on forest roads by statistical approaches.
(2021-07-28T00:00:00Z) Varol, Tugrul; Ozel, Halil Baris; Ertugrul, Mertol; Emir, Tuna; Tunay, Metin; Cetin, Mehmet; Sevik, Hakan
The soil-bearing capacity is one of the important criteria in dimensioning the superstructure. In Turkey, predictability of California Bearing Ratio values, which may be used in the planning and dimensioning of forest roads, of which about 26% lacks the superstructure, by using soil mechanical properties (cost and time efficient parameters that are easier to determine) is investigated. Simple linear regression, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks and adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system methods were utilized. Two hundred sixty-four California Bearing Ratio values obtained from the project carried out on the forest roads of Bartin Forest Operation Directorate were used in both the production of training-test data and the creation of models. Statistical performance of the models was assessed by means of parameters such as root-mean-square error, mean absolute error and R. The obtained results show that the bearing capacity values predicted by artificial neural networks and adaptive network based fuzzy inference system models display significantly better performance than the simple linear regression and multiple linear regression models. While the highest prediction capacity belongs to adaptive network based fuzzy inference system (0.969-0.991), it is followed by artificial neural networks (R = 0.796-0.974), multiple linear regression (R = 0.796) and simple linear regression (R = 0.554). What makes the algorithms superior than the traditional statistical models is the fact that they have many processing neurons, each with local connections, and thus have higher error tolerance. On the other hand, for the forest and rural roads, which play an important role in rural development of the forest peasants, to be able to operate all-seasons, superstructure should be immediately built in order to minimize the wear on the roads.
The effects of base station as an electromagnetic radiation source on flower and cone yield and germination percentage in Pinus brutia Ten.
(2021-09-01T00:00:00Z) Ozel, Halil Baris; Cetin, Mehmet; Sevik, Hakan; Varol, Tugrul; Isik, Berkant; Yaman, Barbaros
Electromagnetic radiation is a substantial pollution factor that most of the living things found almost everywhere are constantly exposed to with current technology. The number of studies conducted on the effects of this exposed radiation on the living things constantly is limited; and almost all of the studies conducted are aimed at measuring the effects of short-term exposure. In addition to this, most of the studies conducted on plants focus on herbaceous plant species. In this study, the effects of distance to base station on flower and cone yield and germination percentage were investigated in Pinus brutia individuals, one of the critical forest tree species. The study results revealed that being close to the base station significantly reduced the number of flowers and cones in P. brutia individuals, and that the values obtained in individuals at a distance of 800 m from the base station were 11 times more than the number of flowers and 7 times more than the number of cones compared to the individuals at a distance of 100 m. In the seeds subject to the study, there is a three-times difference in terms of the germination percentage among the individuals located at the furthest and closest distance to the base station. These results show that P. brutia individuals are considerably affected by the base station.
The effects of climate on land use/cover: a case study in Turkey by using remote sensing data.
(2023-01-01T00:00:00Z) Zeren Cetin, Ilknur; Varol, Tugrul; Ozel, Halil Baris; Sevik, Hakan
Economic and industrial development results in worldwide population concentration in cities, leading to increases in impervious surfaces. Thus, the surface temperatures increase and cities are exposed to the urban heat island effect. This study analyzed the changes in the urban heat island effect in the 30 years (from 1990 to 2021) in the central district of Bartin. In this sense, there were two primary goals. Firstly, land use/land cover change, land surface temperature (LST), normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were analyzed by using remote sensing methods between 1990 and 2021. Secondly, a linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the factors associated with LST, NDVI, and NDBI. The study results revealed increases in urban surfaces and the average land surface temperature values in the past 30 years and showed a decline in the vegetation. Regression analysis results indicated a strong negative relationship between LST and NDVI and a strong positive relationship between LST and NDBI. It was also found a robust negative relationship between NDBI and NDVI. In light of the findings, it was stated that the amount of open and green areas should be increased in order to prevent the negative effects of the urban heat island in the central district of Bartin. For this purpose, it has been proposed to encourage green roof systems throughout the city, to create city parks and to create a green belt system. In addition, as a result of the study, the importance of preventing forest destruction caused by over settlement in the Mountains, which is one of the rare habitats of the world with different plant species, was emphasized. In this sense, legal sanctions should be employed to protect those areas and prevent construction.