Drought Analysis for the Seyhan Basin with NDVI and VCI Vegetation Indices

Abstract

Various drought indices have been developed to monitor the drought, which is one of the results of climate change and mitigates its adverse effects on water resources, especially agriculture. Vegetation indices determined by remote sensing have been the subject of many studies in recent years and shed light on drought risk management. This study is examined in the Seyhan River Basin, a basin with Turkey’s considerable population density counts and is situated south of the country. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) are the most widely used vegetation indices and are very useful because they give results only based on satellite images. This study examined the Seyhan Basin by using satellite data in which the vegetation transformation occurring due to the decline of agricultural and forest areas was also seen. An increase in drought frequency was detected in the Seyhan Basin using NDVI and VCI indices. It was determined that climate change and drought increased with a linear uptrend. It is recommended that decision-makers should take the necessary measures by considering the drought risk maps and that long-term drought management plans should be made and implemented.