Impacts of climatic changes on in-land waters of Turkey is a topic that has not been sufficiently investigated yet. In this study, some exploratory work have been performed to form the core of further studies on the subject. EOF (Empirical Orthogonal Function) analysis has been applied to SLP (Sea Level Pressure) field with a wide coverage (20-70N, 50W-70E). The dominant sources of variability in this atmospheric system have been shown to be driven by 3 circulation indices, NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation), EAWR (East Atlantic - West Russia) and EA (East Atlantic) patterns. Linkages between this atmospheric system and the hydro-meteorological properties (data compiled from governmental organizations) of major Turkish lake ecosystems has been investigated with use of ordinary correlation analysis and CCA (Canonical Correlation Analysis). The results revealed the heavy forcing of large scale SLP field on regional temperature and E--P (evaporation minus precipitation) fields. The 15-year data set of Lake Mogan, as the longest available found, was used to exemplify the approaches and methodologies that can be employed for understanding the influence of climate variability on biological properties of lakes. It was suggested that temperature and salinity, being effective on phytoplankton and zooplankton groups, mediate the climatic impacts in Lake Mogan.

This thesis assesses phosphorus loads and management practices to control nutrient transport to Lake Uluabat. It analyzes nonpoint sources of pollution, especially agricultural pollution, throughout Uluabat Basin (watershed). AVSWAT (ArcviewTM Interface of Soil and Water Assessment Tool 2000) was used in determination of phosphorus and sediment loads to Lake Uluabat. Contribution of soluble phosphorus (SOLP) loads from agricultural sites was discussed. Seven scenarios were applied through watershed area to see effects of fertilizer and irrigation application rates, landuse changes, point source and watershed inlet loads on phosphorus loads. Calibration of the model was performed annually due to lack of data. First stream flow, next sediment and finally nutrient (SOLP) was calibrated at two gages. At the first gage, simulation results were satisfactory in terms of Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (ENS) and percentage deviation between observation and simulation values (Dv). ENS values for stream, sediment and SOLP were &gt / =0.99. Dv values for stream, sediment and SOLP were &lt / &plusmn / 1%. At the second gage, after calibration, following values were obtained for ENS and Dv: Stream flow - ENS=0.75, Dv&lt / 10% / sediment - ENS=0.71, Dv=25% / SOLP - ENS=0.55, Dv&lt / 20%. It was concluded that agricultural sites were among major contributors of phosphorus load to Lake Uluabat. SOLP load to lake was about 4.0 gP/m2/year, greater than the target value of 1.0 gP/m2/year (DHKD, 2002). Scenario results showed that removing agricultural lands around Lake Uluabat and decreasing fertilizer application rates were necessary to reduce SOLP loads to lake. Moreover, phosphorus load from Emet and Orhaneli Watersheds seemed significant.

A detailed study is held in Lake Eymir, a shallow eutrophic lake, investigating the phosphorus concentrations in water and the bottom sediment. Water depth, secchi depth, TSS, sediment soluble total phosphorus, sediment soluble PO4-P, Chl-a , TKN, NH4-N, NO2-N, NO3-N, alkalinity, temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and PAR parameters are monitored for 21 months and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied to identify trend of phosphorus concentration in water column. Results indicated that total phosphorus concentrations in water column and sediment at lake bottom are susceptible to changes caused by the variations in other water quality parameters compared to average, surface and mid-depth values. Correlations observed between P and other parameters were the highest in Bottom &ndash / 3 data set. In order to model sediment soluble total phosphorus in Lake Eymir, chlorophyll-a, NH3, total phosphorus, PO4-P, temperature, conductivity, pH, turbidity, &Delta / T and dissolved oxygen are defined as effective parameters. Linear regression models were more successful in predicting sediment soluble phosphorus concentrations compared to non-linear ones. Turbidity is a good tracer for total phosphorus concentrations in Lake Eymir. Temperature is seasonally effective on phosphorus concentrations, and may create stratified water in summer. Stratification causes phosphorus to build up in bottom water layer. Particle size distribution results show that area of sampling point 1 has different characteristics compared to other sampling locations since it is located at the inlet. The exchange of phosphorus from water to sediment is mostly completed within the first 7-8 hours. On average, 30% of the exchange is completed in an hour. It is clearly seen that although sediment layer in the lake is a phosphorus source, it has not reached its phosphorus binding capacity yet. Adsorption isotherm is found to be pseudo-second-order with a coefficient of determination greater than 0.9909 at all sampling points. Sediment phosphorus content has been fractioned into NH4Cl-P, BD-P, NaOH-P and HCl-P in order to identify permanent and bioavailable parts. Fractionation results show that even if the soluble concentrations are low, they are high enough to cause eutrophication problems.

Biodeterioration has an important role in weathering of historical materials. Natural stone materials become vulnerable to physical and chemical changes in outdoor conditions, favouring the biological growth. In this study, biodeterioration on calcareous stones and its control by biomineralisation were studied on limestones from Nemrut Mount Monument and marbles from Pessinous Archaeological Site. For qualitative and quantitative detection of biological activity fluorescein diacetate (FDA) method that was developed for soil microbial activity was applied to stones of historic monuments. Qualitative FDA analysis was used on cross sections of the samples in order to observe the depth of penetration and effects of biomineralisation using a light microscope with fluorescent light source. Quantitative FDA analysis was done by spectrophotometric determination of fluorescence formed by FDA treatment. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses were used in determining mineralogical structure of patinas and stone base. Light microscopy was used to investigate changes in morphological structure of historic stone in cross and thin sections of the samples. The control of biodeterioration on stone surfaces was studied by biomineralisation treatments using Bacillus cereus. The results of biomineralisation were evaluated by XRD, light microscopy, SEM-EDX and FDA analyses. The results of this study showed that the biodeterioration was an important decay factor in stone materials. It started from the surface and penetrated through the microstructure of the stone up to about four cm depth. Biodeterioration also contributed to the growth of microcracks. Results of biomineralisation using B.cereus to form a protective coating on limestone and marble were also discussed.

The concept of &ldquo / climate change&rdquo / is, nowadays, seen as a global problem of the whole world. It has impacts on the economic, social, and environmental life of human beings, and also on the local life. As one of the sectors that are important for the local economies, &ldquo / tourism&rdquo / is vulnerable to climate change due to being sensitive to the factors of climate and weather. Therefore, to discuss the relation between the climate change and tourism is the aim of this thesis. In this regard, the context of &ldquo / the awareness of the actors&rdquo / about the impacts of the climate change becomes important. To evaluate the awareness of the actors, the research is focused on &ldquo / the response mechanisms&rdquo / that they develop. The hypothesis is that although the expected impact of climate change is very important, the level of awareness of the actors on this sector is rather limited and this leads to limited action to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on tourism. In this regard, in this research, the main purpose is identified as to discuss the impacts of climate change on tourism, and to evaluate the awareness of the actors and the response mechanisms. It is researched that whether the actors are aware of the current condition about climate change and tourism and whether the response mechanisms that actors develop are effective on the impacts of climate change on tourism. As a sample in Turkey, Antalya is defined as the case study area, and the impacts of climate change on tourism are examined, and the awareness of the actors is analyzed. It is displayed, by the results of the analysis, that which type of mechanisms the actors in Antalya have trend to develop about climate change impacts.

Earthquakes in Turkey, among all natural disasters claim the highest losses in terms of human lives, material and economic assets. Most of the lives are lost within the collapsed buildings, and most of the material and economic losses are again directly related to the functional capacities of the building stock. The method of risk assessment in the existing building stock is therefore an essential step in the maintenance of safer urban environments. Analysis of risks in the building stock is usually claimed to demand surveys of engineering studies. Yet risk determination studies by planners could prove not only a more comprehensive approach, but less time consuming and cheaper. As carried out by engineers, most of safety studies in the building stock are directly related with estimating the probability of collapse and damage in individual buildings. It is necessary to recognize the need for analysis of the building stock not only in terms of structural robustness, but as part of a mitigation plan, taking into consideration all sources of hazards and the urban pattern, densities, landuse, forms of ownership, social features, management capacities, and local opportunities. Risky buildings determined by a simple set of criteria within a comprehensive planning context are comparatively explored in this study to observe the level of fit with those determined by engineering surveys. The case of Fatih District in Istanbul provides an opportunity to carry out comparative analyses. It indicates that a &lsquo / perfect fit&rsquo / can not be achieved if for nothing but due to the disregard of multi-hazard areas, hazardous activities and other vulnerabilities like timber buildings other than reinforced concrete in the district by the engineering survey. Several trials indicated that there is a trade-off between ratio of fit and the total volume of relative vulnerability assumed. Ratios like 70% or more could make the planning approach a preferable method owing to its nature of least time-consuming and costly alternative in the determination of what constitutes risk in any urban area. Ultimate assessment could be made with the occurance of the earthquake itself.

Anaerobic digestion process which has long been known to successfully reduce the organic content of sludge is one of the most common alternatives to meet pathogen reduction requirements for particular classes of biosolids. However, it has recently been reported that, significantly higher densities of indicator bacteria have been measured in dewatered cake samples compared to samples collected right after anaerobic digestion. In addition, this increase in bacterial population has been commonly observed after centrifugation but not after belt filter dewatering. Even though several theories have emerged to explain this occurrence, with the use of molecular tools such as Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (Q

The difficulty of gathering information on field and coarse resolution of Landsat images forced to use ancillary data in vegetation mapping. The aim of this study is to increase the accuracy of species level vegetation classification incorporating environmental variables in the Amanos region. In the first part of the study, coarse vegetation classification is attained by using maximum likelihood method with the help of forest management maps. Canonical Correspondence analysis is used to explore the relationships among the environmental variables and vegetation classes. Discriminant Analysis is used in the second part of the study in two different stages. Firstly Fisher&rsquo / s linear equations for each of the previously defined nine groups calculated and the pixels are included in one of these groups by looking at the probability of that pixel being in that group. In the second stage Distance raster value of maximum likelihood classification is used. Distance raster pixels having a value less than one is accepted as misclassified and replaced with a value of first stage result of that pixel. As a result of this study 19.6 % increase in the overall accuracy is obtained by using the relationships between environmental variables and vegetation distribution.

This study aims to develop a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) Based systematic quantitative landslide risk assessment methodology for regional and local scales. Each component of risk, i.e., hazard assessment, vulnerability, and consequence analysis, is quantitatively assessed for both scales. The developed landslide risk assessment methodology is tested at Kumluca watershed, which covers an area of 330 km2, in Bartin province of the Western Black Sea Region, Turkey. GIS and RS techniques are used to create landslide factor maps, to obtain susceptibility maps, hazard maps, elements at risk and risk maps, and additionally to compare the obtained maps. In this study, the effect of mapping unit and mapping method upon susceptibility mapping method, and as a result the effect upon risk map, is evaluated. Susceptibility maps are obtained by using two different mapping units, namely slope unit-based and grid-based mapping units. When analyzing the effect of susceptibility mapping method, this study attempts to extend Logistic Regression (LR) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) by implementing Geographically-Weighted Logistic Regression (GWR) and spatial regression (SR) techniques for landslide susceptibility assessment. In addition to spatial probability of occurrence of damaging events, landslide hazard calculation requires the determination of the temporal probability. Precipitation triggers the majority of landslides in the study region. The critical rainfall thresholds were estimated by using daily and antecedent rainfalls and landslide occurrence dates based on three different approaches: Time Series, Gumble Distribution and Intensity Duration Curves. Different procedures are adopted to obtain the element at risk values and vulnerability values for local and regional scale analyses. For regional scale analysis, the elements at risk were obtained from existing digital cadastral databases and vulnerabilities are obtained by adopting some generalization approaches. On the other hand, on local scale the elements at risk are obtained by high resolution remote sensing images by the developed algorithms in an automatic way. It is found that risk maps are more similar for slope unit-based mapping unit than grid&ndash / based mapping unit.

Within the twenty&ndash / first century, nearly three billion people, half of total population of the world, live in cities. It is estimated that in the forthcoming twenty&ndash / five years, two billion more people will settle in urban lands. Essentially most of these devastating changes will occur in developing countries, both in terms of the total global urban population as well as increased percentage of the individual country&rsquo / s population living in urban areas. For many developing countries, the urban population is already large. Further increases in size and rates of growth will no doubt stress already impacted environments and living quality. All cities, however, are not impacting the ecology of the world similarly. On the one hand, developed cities have mostly cope with their environmental problems regarded as traditional / concern has focused to their impacts on ecosystems as well as those larger in scale. Cities in the developing world are more concerned with other issues. However, it is not only the development level of countries but the urban planning and development tendencies of their cities impacting the environment differently should be considered, which comprehensively shows us environmental performance of urban patterns. Environmental performance basically refers to the abilities and capabilities of urban patterns to mitigate their impacts on environment and ecology of the world and to cope with the negative of all. As an indicator of environmental performance of urban patterns, ecological footprints, its reasons and long term effects should be specified as inseparable part of urban development and inevitably ecological footprints of different urban patterns and their effects on climate change should be concerned while taking planning and development decisions for urban areas. The basic purpose of the thesis is to specify the environmental performance of different urban patterns in terms of their ecological footprints through defining the relationship between implications of urban patterns and their contributions to the ecological footprint.