assessment of land use efficiency in ezine district of Çanakkale

In this study land use efficiency on Ezine District of Çanakkale Province which covers approximately 721 km² was determined with geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques. In the study, 1982 year data of the Canakkale Provincial Inventory report and 2012 ASTER satellite image were used. To determine the land use efficiency, basic land use types (agriculture, pasture, forest, water surface and non-agricultural areas) of 1982 and 2012 images were compared with land use capability classes converted to raster format. With this comparison, it was determined in which land use capability class the land use classes were included. According to results, it was detected that agriculture, pasture, wat er surfaces and non-agricultural areas were increased and forest areas were decreased in 30 years’ period. While nonagricultural uses in I., II., III. and IV. class lands were 665 ha, it was increased approximately by 30% and reached to 865.15 ha in 2012. Non-agricultural uses in VI., VII. and VIII. class lands were 1683 ha in 1982 and it has increased about 5 .03% and reached to 1767.5 ha in 2012. The decline of forest areas in VI and VII class land has led to increases especially in agriculture and pasture use. This increase is thought to lead to increased soil loss due to erosion.