Field-oriented assessment of agricultural crops through temporal segmentation of modis VI data.

Monitoring agricultural crops constitutes a vital task for the general understanding of land use spatio-temporal dynamics. This paper presents an approach for the enhancement of current crop monitoring capabilities on a regional scale, in order to allow for the analysis of environmental and socio-economic drivers and impacts of agricultural land use. This work discusses the advantages and current limitations of using 250m VI data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for this purpose, with emphasis in the difficulty of correctly analyzing pixels whose temporal responses are disturbed due to certain sources of interference such as mixed or heterogeneous land cover. It is shown that the influence of noisy or disturbed pixels can be minimized, and a much more consistent and useful result can be attained, if individual agricultural fields are identified and each field's pixels are analyzed in a collective manner. As such, a method is proposed that makes use of image segmentation techniques based on MODIS temporal information in order to identify portions of the study area that agree with actual agricultural field borders. The pixels of each portion or segment are then analyzed individually in order to estimate the reliability of the temporal signal observed and the consequent relevance of any estimation of land use from that data. The proposed method was applied in the state of Mato Grosso, in mid-western Brazil, where extensive ground truth data was available. Experiments were carried out using several supervised classification algorithms as well as different subsets of land cover classes, in order to test the methodology in a comprehensive way. Results show that the proposed method is capable of consistently improving classification results not only in terms of overall accuracy but also qualitatively by allowing a better understanding of the land use patterns detected. It thus provides a practical and straightforward procedure for enhancing crop-mapping capabilities using temporal series of moderate resolution remote sensing data.

Detecting outliers and asserting consistency in agriculture ground truth information by using temporal VI data from modis.

Collecting ground truth data is an important step to be accomplished before performing a supervised classification. However, its quality depends on human, financial and time ressources. It is then important to apply a validation process to assess the reliability of the acquired data. In this study, agricultural infomation was collected in the Brazilian Amazonian State of Mato Grosso in order to map crop expansion based on MODIS EVI temporal profiles. The field work was carried out through interviews for the years 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. This work presents a methodology to validate the training data quality and determine the optimal sample to be used according to the classifier employed. The technique is based on the detection of outlier pixels for each class and is carried out by computing Mahalanobis distances for each pixel. The higher the distance, the further the pixel is from the class centre. Preliminary observations through variation coefficent validate the efficiency of the technique to detect outliers. Then, various subsamples are defined by applying different thresholds to exclude outlier pixels from the classification process. The classification results prove the robustness of the Maximum Likelihood and Spectral Angle Mapper classifiers. Indeed, those classifiers were insensitive to outlier exclusion. On the contrary, the decision tree classifier showed better results when deleting 7.5% of pixels in the training data. The technique managed to detect outliers for all classes. In this study, few outliers were present in the training data, so that the classification quality was not deeply affected by the outliers.

Supporting land use change modelling with automated monitoring of land use dynamics in the La Plata River Basin.

2008

Energy balances in sugar cane, coffee and natural vegetation in the northeastern side of the São Paulo state, Brazil

Under land and climate change scenarios, agriculture has experienced water competitions among other sectors in the São Paulo state, Brazil. On the one hand, in several occasions, in the northeastern side of this state, nowadays sugar-cane is expanding, while coffee plantations are losing space. On the other hand, both crops have replaced the natural vegetation composed by Savannah and Atlantic Coastal Forest species. Under this dynamic situation, geosciences are valuable tools for evaluating the large-scale energy and mass exchanges between these diffe rent agro-ecosystems and the lower atmosphere. For quantification of the energy balance components in these mixed agro-ecosystems, the bands 1 and 2 from the MODIS product MOD13Q1 we re used throughout SA FER (Surface Algorithm for Evapotranspiration Retrieving) algorithm, which was applied together with a net of 12 automatic weather stations, during the year 2015 in the main sugar cane and coffee growing regions, located at the no rtheastern side of the state. The fraction of the global solar radiation (R G ) transformed into net radiation (Rn) was 52% for sugar cane and 53% for both, coffee and natural vegetation. The respective annual fractions of Rn used as λ E were 0.68, 0.87 and 0.77, while for the sensible heat (H) fluxes they were 0.27, 0.07 and 0.16. From April to July, heat advection raised λ E values above Rn promoting negative H, however these effects were much and less strong in coffee and sugar cane crop s, respectively. The smallest daily Rn fraction for all agro-ecosystems was for the soil heat flux (G), with averages of 5%, 6% and 7% in sugar cane, coffee and natural vegetation. From the energy balance analyses, we could conclude that, sugar-cane crop presented lower annual water consumption than that for coffee crop , what can be seen as an advantage in situations of water scarcity. However, the replacement of natural vegetation by su gar cane can contribute for warming th e environment, while when this occur with coffee crop there was noticed co oling conditions. The large scale modeling satisfactory results confirm the suitability of using MODIS products togeth er with weather stations to study the energy balance components in mixed agro-ecosystems under land-use and climate change conditions.

Carbon sequestration associated to the land-use and land-cover changes in the forestry sector in Southern Brazil.

We studied the Paraíba do Sul river watershed , São Paulo state (PSWSP), Southeastern Brazil, in order to assess the land use and cover (LULC) and their implication s to the amount of carbon (C) stored in the forest cover between the years 1985 and 2015. Th e region covers a n area of 1,395,975 ha . We used images made by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor (OLI/Landsat - 8) to produce mappings , and image segmentation techniques to produce vectors with homogeneous characteristics. The training samples and the samples used for classification and validation were collected from the segmented image. To quantify the C stocked in aboveground live biomass (AGLB) , we used an indirect method and applied literature - based reference values. The recovery of 205,690 ha of a secondary Native Forest (NF) after 1985 sequestered 9.7 Tg (Teragram) of C . Considering the whole NF area (455,232 ha), the amount of C accumulated al ong the whole watershed was 3 5 .5 Tg , and the whole Eucalyptus crop (EU) area (113,600 ha) sequester ed 4. 4 Tg of C. Thus, the total amount of C sequestered in the whole watershed (NF + EU) was 3 9 . 9 Tg of C or 1 45 . 6 Tg of CO 2 , and the NF areas were responsible for the large st C stock at the watershed (8 9 %). Therefore , the increase of the NF cover contribut es positively to the reduction of CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere, and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD + ) may become one of the most promising compensation mechanisms for the farmers who increased forest cover at their farms.

Satellite based multi-scale methods to support governance of Brazil's low-carbon agriculture (ABC Plan).

Brazil's Low Carbon Agriculture is one the initiatives that puts the climate in the agricultural agenda towards a more sustainable and adapted agriculture under global changes. Among the several practices listed and supported by the ABC Plan, zero tillage and integrated crop-livestock-forestry systems including the recovery of degraded pasture are the most relevant ones. The objective of this paper is to present the Geo-ABC Project, a procedure to monitor the implementation of the Brazil?s Low Carbon Agriculture (ABC Plan) and aiming at the development of remote sensing methods to monitor agricultural systems listed in the ABC Plan and adopted at local scale.

Desempenho de métodos de estimativa da evapotranspiração de referência para a cidade de Sete Lagoas, MG.

2016

Imagens orbitais e termografia infravermelho na avaliação da temperatura de superfície em diferentes usos e cobertura do solo na Floresta Nacional do Tapajós e seu entorno, PA.

A Temperatura da Superfície Terrestre (TST), além de ser uma componente importante no balanço de energia na superfície, modula a temperatura do ar nas camadas mais baixas da atmosfera. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar a variação da temperatura de superfície em Diferentes Usos e Cobertura do Solo na Floresta Nacional do Tapajós e seu Entorno. Utilizou-se sensores ?Thermal Infrared Sensor? dos satélites Ladsat 5 e 8 através dos ?softwares? PCI Geomatica 2015 e o QGis 2.8. Fez-se campanha de campo para obtenção de imagens termogéficas no infravermelho (câmera ThermoVision, modelo A320). Os resultados apontaram maior variabilidade espacial de TST em função da heterogeneidade do uso da terra como a agricultura anual, pecuária extensiva, dentre outros. Os resultados evidenciaram uma amplitude térmica de 13ºC na FNT+ZA. Em área de Floretas, vegetação secundária, pasto, agricultura anual as maiores variações térmicas (TST) chegaram a valores de 25ºC, 26ºC, 35ºC e 33ºC, respectivamente. A amplitude térmica na FNT foi de 5ºC e na Zona de Amortecimento de 20º, indicando perdas na cobertura vegetal, principalmente na porção nordeste da ZA. Nas áreas de proteção legal a variação de TST foi entre 19ºC a 29ºC. Conclui-se que na FLONA Tapajós a manutenção da cobertura florestal reduz as amplitudes térmicas. Por outro lado, as extensas áreas com pastagens e cultivos anuais na porção nordeste da FLONA apresentam as maiores variações espaciais da TST na Zona de Amortecimento que podem comprometer o microclima na FNT+ZA

Aplicação de geotecnologias: detecção remota e geoprocessamento: para a gestão ambiental dos recursos hídricos superficiais em Cambará do Sul, RS, Brasil.

Atualmente, a degradação ambiental é problema dos gestores municipais e os projetos de monitoramento / recuperação incluem coleta, integração e análise de dados de natureza diversa. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com uso de geotecnologias como suporte ao diagnóstico e gerenciamento ambiental do Município de Cambará do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. O cartografia florestal gerou mapa de cobertura do solo por classificação MAXVER sobre imagens TM LANDSAT 5. O levantamento de campo diagnosticou os conflitos de uso conforme a Legislação Ambiental. A partir disto foi elaborada proposta de enquadramento por sub-bacias, visando monitoramento ambiental. O estudo demonstrou possibilidades de obter respostas rápidas com emprego de geotecnologias a baixo custo. As informações compõe banco de dados podendo ser atualizado periodicamente e consultado publicamente. Este trabalho faz parte do Projeto Curicaca, Convênio 025/96, Ministério do Meio Ambiente e abordou usos do solo e água visando a classificação de bacias hidrográficas.

Diagnóstico ambiental como subsídio à restauração florestal e manutenção hidrológica da bacia do Ribeirão dos Pinheirinhos, Brotas - SP

A ocupação das margens do Ribeirão dos Pinheirinhos gerou fragmentação da mata ciliar, afetando a dinâmica ambiental do município de Brotas, São Paulo. Neste sentido, os diagnósticos ambientais podem atuar como subsídio indispensável para ações de minimização dos impactos ao meio a médio e longo prazo. O objetivo do trabalho foi diagnosticar as áreas de preservação permanente associadas aos recursos hídricos da bacia do Ribeirão dos Pinheirinhos, visando à determinação de áreas prioritárias à restauração florestal e manutenção hidrológica. Foi utilizado um banco de dados cartográfico digital e o SIG IDRISI Andes para análise espacial e processamento de imagens de satélite LandSat. Foram gerados mapas de: (i) uso e cobertura do solo, pela aplicação do algoritmo de classificação supervisionada de máxima verossimilhança; (ii) uso e cobertura do solo nas áreas de preservação permanente associadas a os recursos hídricos; (iii) distância às nascentes; e (iv) áreas prioritárias à restauração florestal. Houve predomínio dos cultivos agrícolas e solo exposto (73,70%), restando apenas 23,14% de remanescentes florestais. Foi observado que 32,09% das áreas de preservação permanente estão ocupadas inadequadamente, indicando a necessidade de investimento para conservação dos remanescentes florestais, melhor planejamento quanto ao uso do solo e adequação à legislação por parte dos órgãos públicos responsáveis, uma vez que 68,45% da área total foi classificada com prioridade alta a muito alta à restauração, percentual que tende a aumentar com o avanço das fronteiras agrícolas.

Análise geoambiental de paisagens rurais montanhosas da Serra do Mar utilizando redes neurais artificiais. Subsídios a sustentabilidade ambiental de ecossistemas frágeis e fragmentados sob interferência antrópica.

2012

Geoprocessamento como ferramenta integradora para o planejamento do uso agrícola das terras e a manutenção da qualidade das águas subterrâneas nas áreas de afloramento do Aqüífero Guarani.

2008