EFFECTS OF URBANIZATION ON FLOODS, ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING, AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE DAN METROPOLIS

Urbanization processes lead, over time, to an increase in the area covered by impervious surfaces at the expense of open spaces, such as natural areas, urban green spaces, agricultural lands. Upon rainstorms, these processes cause the runoff-rainfall (RR) ratio to increase, raising the risk of flooding. In addition, the impervious land areas cause the degradation in ecosystem services, with the consequent deterioration in functioning of the urban ecosystem. The primary study objective will be to assess the impact of increased area of impervious land units on ecological functioning of open spaces across the Dan Metropolis, and the consequences of land-use changes on it. The specific objectives are: 1) mapping the land-use changes that have taken place during the last 30 (1991–2020) years across the Dan Metropolis watershed; 2) modeling the effects of these changes on the potential RR ratio in sub-watersheds across the metropolis; and 3) studying the soil and vegetation properties in the different types of open spaces. The importance of this study stems from the extent of land-use change, which is among the most ‘burning’ environmental issues in central Israel. We expect to improve the understanding of the impact of land-use change in urban environments, by combining long-term trend analysis of remote-sensing data, supported by ground truth measurements.