REMOTE SENSING AND GIS BASED VIEWSHED ANALYSIS FOR WATER VISIBILITY FROM SETTLEMENTS OF A MEDITERRANEAN CITY

This study aims to determine the effect of water body visibility on preference of housing in the case of Adana City Dam Lake and its environment. The coast of water bodies are attractive spaces for human activities since the beginning of human history. Recently the uses of coastal areas are intensified due to the scenic value of water bodies. Viewshed analysis is the research of the relationships between a point data set and a single point. The visibility of water bodies which can be calculated spatially using viewshed analysis is becoming increasingly a common factor for land use/selection. As a result of this, viewshed analysis facilitates landscape planning in an appropriate way by considering scenic value of landscape features such as, water bodies. Viewshed analysis of Seyhan Dam Lake in Adana City with the support of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provided accurate results and saved time, labour and cost. The study area is called Menekse district in Adana located at the Eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey and undergoing rapid population and urbanization due to agricultural capacity and industrialization which make this area ideal test-bed site for visibility analysis. This area is under pressure of urbanisation since introduction of city development plan in 2008. In this regard the visibility of Seyhan Dam Lake was modelled for Menekse district to find out the effect of scenic value on land use preference. The outputs of this study will maintain more effective city development plans.