Detection of Changes Resulting from Construction of Shirin Darreh Dam on Land Use/Land Cover in Downstream Basin

Monitoring and detecting land changes are the most important process in landscape planning and management. In this study we analysed changes trend and the land uses changes in Shirin Dare Watershed Basin in North Khorasan province from 1996 to 2015 using remote sensing techniques and geographical information systems (GIS). A series of satellite images of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) data (1996, 2005, 2015) respectively were used to produce classify land use/cover map. The area and percentage of land use/land cover types were calculated using GIS. Remote sensing techniques are particularly suited for providing reliable, up-to-date and comprehensive data on land-use/land-cover. Based on the results obtained by employment of GIS and RS, it is concluded that the land cover/land use area have altered significantly during the years. Our results indicate a decrease in garden and forest and also show mutual transformations among dry farm lands and garden. This changes will create serious threat to watershed resources.