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As the effects of climate change intensify globally, a new platform has been launched to display Türkiye’s drought situation by province and district since 1990 in real time.
Türkiye is among the countries most affected by climate change. While rising temperatures are a well-known consequence, the clearest impacts are felt through the water cycle. Irregular rainfall, prolonged droughts, sudden and severe floods, declining groundwater levels and worsening water quality are direct results of the crisis.
Güven Fidan, founder of Alkazar, a company operating under Istanbul Technical University (ITU) ARI Technopark and an expert in microclimates, explained that Türkiye is experiencing increasingly irregular rainfall and extended drought periods.
Fidan warned that without proper measures, dam levels, groundwater and agricultural production could face serious challenges and severe droughts could lead to unmet water demand.
To address this, Fidan and his team developed an interactive drought map, explaining, “We have made a free-to-access map that presents Türkiye’s drought situation from past to present. The platform displays provinces in a color-coded format, and clicking on a province reveals its districts, along with distribution tables and trend graphs spanning 1990 to 2025. For the first time in Türkiye, provincial and district drought data, class percentages and long-term trends are presented together with smooth, interactive visuals.”
Fidan emphasized that the platform answers the question, “Where, how severe and how long is the drought?” at a glance. It enables experts, academics, and citizens working in agriculture, water management, and disaster prevention to analyze regional drought risks using data.
The platform features an intuitive interface designed for easy use. “We want all citizens to access drought information for Türkiye or any province or district of interest,” Fidan said.
He added that tracking drought and extreme weather is increasingly important, noting that the map allows users to compare historical and current conditions.
The data is sourced from a global provider and artificial intelligence is used for analysis, calculations and visualization.
Looking ahead, Fidan said the map will continue to be developed, “We aim to enhance the platform with additional meteorological data, offering higher-resolution and more detailed analyses. For agriculture, we plan to provide crop-specific drought analyses, showing how different crops are affected under various conditions. This will enable farmers to monitor how climate impacts their fields in real time.”
