FACTOR ANALYSIS OF SURFACE WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS FOR THE RIVERS OF TURKEY

摘要

In this study, the Factor Analysis, a multivariate statistical analysis, was applied on twelve different parameters [streamflow, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), Na~+, K~+, (Ca+Mg)~(2+), CO_3~(2-), Cl~-, SO_4~(2-), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and boron (B) concentrations] measured at 67 streamflow gauging stations of Turkey's 19 water basins in terms of annual averages for a long period of time (1992-2008). First of all, the appropriateness of the data was confirmed using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Criteria and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity. As a result of the study, it was observed that 80% of the total variance was described by three factors, i.e. the first, second and third factors described the 50.25%, 19.04% and 10.52% of the total variance, respectively. Moreover, the characters described by each factor were determined and named as environmental effects (in the frame of high ion relation), alkaline and climatic effects. Finally, the score values of the stations were calculated, and the relationships between the stations and the factors were investigated. In this context, the stations giving extreme score values under each factor were considered as they should be carefully examined by the decision-makers.