Assessing agricultural land conversion to urban development using high-resolution satellite and drone images
https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2026-4348
Abstract
The protection of agricultural lands is crucial for maintaining food security and environmental sustainability, especially in regions undergoing rapid urbanization. This study examines temporal land use changes in the Tahtalı Neighborhood of Derince District, Kocaeli Province, between 2014 and 2024. Three zones along the lakeshore, identified as highly attractive for human activity, were selected as study plots. High-resolution satellite images, orthophotos, and drone data were processed using the MeanShift segmentation method and classified with the Support Vector Machine algorithm to differentiate built-up areas from agricultural lands. Training samples were prepared based on spectral, textural, shape, and contextual features to ensure high classification accuracy. The classification performance was evaluated using confusion matrices, yielding overall accuracies ranging from 0.90 to 0.97 and Kappa coefficients between 0.72 and 0.93 across the study zones and years. The results indicate a substantial decline in agricultural lands due to urban expansion, temporary structures, and stone wall constructions, reflecting the increasing pressure of urbanization on rural landscapes. The integration of highresolution drone data with machine learning classification effectively captured both fine-scale and broader land use patterns, offering a robust framework for monitoring spatial and temporal land use dynamics. These findings support informed land management decisions and emphasize the importance of sustainable land use policies in rapidly developing peri-urban regions.
Keywords
Agricultural land,
urban expansion,
high-resolution satellite images,
UAV imagery,
land use change,
SVM classification
Supporting agencies: This study is partially derived from the master’s thesis entitled “Spatiotemporal Analysis of Agricultural Land Use Changes Through Information Technologies: A Case Study of Tahtalı in Derince District”, completed at the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Kocaeli University. The authors would like to thank the Department of Geomatics Engineering, Kocaeli University, for their support during the research process. Additionally, the authors used ChatGPT for language editing, workflow organization, and text refinement. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy and originality of the final manuscript.
About the Authors
Arzu Erener
Department of Geomatics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kocaeli University
Turkey
Turkey
Umuttepe Campus, 41001 İzmit, Kocaeli
Cenan Baş
Department of Geomatics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kocaeli University
Turkey
Turkey
Umuttepe Campus, 41001 İzmit, Kocaeli
Murat Selim Çepni
Department of Geomatics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kocaeli University
Turkey
Turkey
Umuttepe Campus, 41001 İzmit, Kocaeli
Gülcan Sarp
Department of Geography, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Suleyman Demirel University
Turkey
Turkey
32260 Isparta
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For citations:
Erener A., Baş C., Çepni M., Sarp G. Assessing agricultural land conversion to urban development using high-resolution satellite and drone images. GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY. 2026;19(3):218-229. https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2026-4348
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