Application of Multivariate Statistical Methods for Water Quality Assessment of Karasu-Sarmisakli Creeks and Kizilirmak River in Kayseri, Turkey

Monitoring water quality of rivers has particular ecological, economic, and environmental importance for a region. However, long-term monitoring of a river network requires a large amount of analysis with high work load and cost. In this study, multivariate analysis was performed to decrease the number of parameters and sampling points for monitoring water quality in the Kizilirmak River and its southern ranches of Karasu and Sarmisakli creeks. On the study area, water quality parameters were collected from seven sampling points for 2004-07 and 2010-14. Multivariate statistical analysis was performed by hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis for the evaluation of parameter variations and dataset interpretation. The dataset was divided into periods A and B to evaluate the effects of seasonal changes on sampling points and parameters.