Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 years

Artemia is a vital natural resource in Lake Urmia. However, owing to technical challenges, long-term records of their dynamic distribution and the impact of natural and human activities remain scarce. In this study, the spatial and temporal dynamics of the Artemia slicks area in Lake Urmia from 1990...

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Main Authors: Shuo Zhao, Jingyi Tian, Xin Wang, Xianghan Sun, Tianle Yao, Liqiao Tian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-08-01
Series:International Journal of Digital Earth
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2468415
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author Shuo Zhao
Jingyi Tian
Xin Wang
Xianghan Sun
Tianle Yao
Liqiao Tian
author_facet Shuo Zhao
Jingyi Tian
Xin Wang
Xianghan Sun
Tianle Yao
Liqiao Tian
author_sort Shuo Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Artemia is a vital natural resource in Lake Urmia. However, owing to technical challenges, long-term records of their dynamic distribution and the impact of natural and human activities remain scarce. In this study, the spatial and temporal dynamics of the Artemia slicks area in Lake Urmia from 1990 to 2023 were first extracted and characterized based on Landsat 5/7/8 and Sentinel-2 satellite data using the Brine Shrimp Index. Results revealed that the variations in the Artemia slicks area over the past 34 years exhibited three phases: a boom period (1990–2000), scarcity period (2001–2016), and recovery period (2017–2023). The ratio of annual mean Artemia slicks area across the three stages was approximately 12:1:5. Observations indicated that Artemia slicks were more likely detected in the southern part of the lake, where the frequency of observed Artemia slicks was 8.47% higher than that in northern part. In the long term, hydrological factors directly affected the area of the Artemia slicks, whereas in the short term, wind had a major influence on the area and spatial distribution. Human activities were identified as the leading cause of the dramatic reduction in the Artemia slicks area over 34 years (path coefficients = −0.891, p < 0.01).
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issn 1753-8947
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publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
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spelling doaj-art-af1f4f99fbf4404ea05486f7f92299ac2025-08-25T11:31:33ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Digital Earth1753-89471753-89552025-08-0118110.1080/17538947.2025.2468415Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 yearsShuo Zhao0Jingyi Tian1Xin Wang2Xianghan Sun3Tianle Yao4Liqiao Tian5State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaArtemia is a vital natural resource in Lake Urmia. However, owing to technical challenges, long-term records of their dynamic distribution and the impact of natural and human activities remain scarce. In this study, the spatial and temporal dynamics of the Artemia slicks area in Lake Urmia from 1990 to 2023 were first extracted and characterized based on Landsat 5/7/8 and Sentinel-2 satellite data using the Brine Shrimp Index. Results revealed that the variations in the Artemia slicks area over the past 34 years exhibited three phases: a boom period (1990–2000), scarcity period (2001–2016), and recovery period (2017–2023). The ratio of annual mean Artemia slicks area across the three stages was approximately 12:1:5. Observations indicated that Artemia slicks were more likely detected in the southern part of the lake, where the frequency of observed Artemia slicks was 8.47% higher than that in northern part. In the long term, hydrological factors directly affected the area of the Artemia slicks, whereas in the short term, wind had a major influence on the area and spatial distribution. Human activities were identified as the leading cause of the dramatic reduction in the Artemia slicks area over 34 years (path coefficients = −0.891, p < 0.01).https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2468415Lake UrmiaArtemia slicksBrine Shrimp Indexhuman activities factorsnatural factors
spellingShingle Shuo Zhao
Jingyi Tian
Xin Wang
Xianghan Sun
Tianle Yao
Liqiao Tian
Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 years
International Journal of Digital Earth
Lake Urmia
Artemia slicks
Brine Shrimp Index
human activities factors
natural factors
title Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 years
title_full Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 years
title_fullStr Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 years
title_full_unstemmed Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 years
title_short Human activities caused the dramatic variations of Artemia slicks in Lake Urmia, the largest lake in Iran: satellite observations over the past 34 years
title_sort human activities caused the dramatic variations of artemia slicks in lake urmia the largest lake in iran satellite observations over the past 34 years
topic Lake Urmia
Artemia slicks
Brine Shrimp Index
human activities factors
natural factors
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2468415
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