Mapping and monitoring forest degradation using remote sensing data with medium and moderate spatial resolution

Abstract

This project presents a methodological approach for mapping and monitoring forest degraded areas due to selective logging and forest fires. In this context, the State of Mato Grosso was selected for the study area, a region that has several vegetation types and has suffered major changes in the land use and land cover due to the advance of agriculture in the cerrado regions, as well as the activities of deforestation and burning in the legal Amazon region, by natural or anthropogenic causes. For this, it will be used remote sensing images with medium spatial resolution of Landsat acquired during the years 2000 (TM), 2010 (TM) and 2015 (OLI). In addition, it will be used moderate spatial resolution images of MODIS (2001 to 2015) and PROBA-V (2015) sensors. The general objectives of this study are: 1) to develop a methodology for detection of degraded forest areas due to selective logging and burning; 2) to generate a land cover map of the region in a medium spatial resolution for the year 2015; 3) to generate maps of degraded forest areas for the study years; and 4) to analyse the fire incidence in deforested burned areas and to estimate the burned biomass and its greenhouse gases emitted into atmosphere. For the validation of the results it will be used high spatial resolution images from RapidEye, Sentinel-2 and LiDAR in test areas, and four field works will be carried out to support the image interpretations. The informations obtained by the project are important as a base for planning and management of natural resources in the region, as well as to improve the carbon emission estimates. (AU)