The impact of topographical parameters to the glaciation and glacial retreat on Mount Ağrı (Ararat)

The controls of topography on glacial changes are crucial, because the heterogeneity in glacial distribution is mainly due to the topography. It is possible to see clearly the topographical effects on glacier distributions on the Ağrı Glacier. As it is the highest region relative to its immediate surroundings, so the glacier region is not under the influence of topography of other regions. This paper investigates and aims to determine the effects of topographic characteristics on glaciation and melting regions on Ağrı glacier. The study was carried out using Landsat satellite data in August 1987, 1989, 1998, 2013, and 2015. Glacier boundaries delineated with both band ratio technique and Normalize Difference Snow Index for each year. Topographical characteristics of glaciation and melting zones were analyzed regarding aspect, slope, elevation, and direction. All analyses were performed by spatial statistics based on the Geographic Information System. As a result of the study, the significant spatial correlation was observed between topographic parameters and glacier distributions. Therefore, the topographic structure has a direct impact on the glaciation and melting. In comparison with aspect and slope parameters, elevation and direction are more important parameters for prediction of potential melting zones. It was predicted that the glacier area loss will be higher at lower elevations of both the eastern and southern parts of the glacier and there will be no glacier in these directions soon.