Map of the vegetation of South America based on satellite imagery

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing

OSTI ID:53459

Stone, T A; Schlesinger, P; Houghton, R A; Woodwell, G M ^[1]

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1. Woods Hole Research Cent, Woods Hole, MA (United States)

We have developed a map of the land cover of South America based largely on NOAA AVHRR LAC (Local Area Coverage) 1-km resolution data. Areas of South America for which there were no LAC data due to cloud cover or other reasons were supplemented with a 3-year time series of 15-km resolution NOAA AVHRR GVI data. Thirty-nine classes were labeled using existing vegetation maps, from phenology, and by visual interpretation of imagery. We estimated that nine percent of the closed tropical moist forests of South America had been cleared in the decade prior to 1988, the date of the imagery; 22 percent of the original closed forests, which include tropical moist forests as a major component, of South America had been cleared or degraded: 18 percent of the original woodland and 25 percent of the grasslands had been cleared or degraded.

• OSTI ID: 53459
• Journal Information: Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Journal Name: Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 60; ISSN PERSDV; ISSN 0099-1112
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ARID LANDS
GROUND COVER
IMAGE PROCESSING
LANDSAT SATELLITES
REMOTE SENSING
TROPICAL REGIONS