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Dynamic Analysis of Water Surface Extent and Climate Change Parameters in Zarivar Lake, Iran
1 , 2 , * 1 , 3
1  School of Surveying and Geospatial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2  Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR USA
3  WSP Environment and Infrastructure Canada Limited, Ottawa, ON K2E 7L5, Canada
Academic Editor: Alexander Kokhanovsky

Abstract:

Wetlands are valuable natural resources which provide many services to both the environment and humans. Over the past several decades, climatic change and human activities have a considerable impact on the water level of wetlands. Lake Zarivar, located in the northwestern region of Iran, represents a significant ecological unit and aquatic ecosystem. Given its unique characteristics, it is imperative to conduct thorough investigations using remote sensing techniques into the alterations occurring within its water body. In this study, the relationship between seasonal variations in Zarivar Lake's water surface area and meteorological variables, including precipitation, evapotranspiration, and lake surface water temperature (LSWT) from 2015 to 2022 has been analyzed. To this end, the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform, a powerful and fast tool for processing the time series of images, were used. The water body was extracted by utilizing the average images of the dual-polarized SAR Sentinel-1 imagery for each season. The edge of the lake was identified by applying the Otsu threshold. Furthermore, meteorological parameters encompass the utilization of the Landsat-8 satellite's Thermal band to determine LSWT, the Chirps rainfall model data for assessing precipitation levels, and the employment of MODIS evapotranspiration products in the form of 8-day data. The results demonstrated the logic of the relationship between changes in the water zone's area and meteorological variables. The correlation coefficient between water area of the lake and precipitation data were be 0.67 and 0.73 in the winter and spring seasons, respectively, and 0.29 and 0.30 in the summer and fall seasons, respectively. On the other hand, there was a strong relationship between the water area and the LSWT. As a result, the correlation coefficient had a value of -0.21 in the winter, when there is a decline in LSWT and an increase in snow and rain, and a value of 0.45 in the spring, when there is an increase in LSWT and considerable rainfall in spring. It reached 0.13 in the summer because of the higher LSWT and lower precipitation, and it dropped to -0.15 in the fall because of the lower LSWT and higher precipitation. All seasons have positive values for the correlation coefficient between the water body area and the evapotranspiration parameters. Due to the persistent rains in the winter and spring, evapotranspiration also increased, reaching values of 0.50 and 0.59 in the respective seasons. The relationship between water area and evapotranspiration is also in the same direction throughout the summer, with a value of 0.60 due to the rise in LSWT and significant rainfall in spring. Due to the lack of precipitation and the consumption of lake water in the summer, the relationship between evapotranspiration and the area of the water zone increased to 0.45 in the fall.

Keywords: Zarivar Lake; Google Earth Engine (GEE); remote sensing; SAR Sentinel-1; Landsat-8; LSWT
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