Test of the use of LANDSAT imagery to detect changes in the area of forests in the tropics
Rates of change in the area of tropical moist forest in the Brazilian State of Rondonia in the southwestern Amazon Basin were measured over several years using LANDSAT data. The purpose was to test in the tropics a technique of change detection developed in temperate forests. The entire procedure was tested from the availability of imagery on computer tapes through the details of the analysis. Imagery was available and obtained readily from the Brazilian Institute of Space Studies (INPE). Three LANDSAT scenes were used to detect and measure change: June 1976, August 1978 and May 1981. Results showed within the area of one LANDSAT scene (34,000 km/sup 2/) rates of deforestation of 26,900 ha/y from 1976 to 1978 and 55,200 ha/y from 1978 to 1981. The LANDSAT data were used with 1981 data from the NOAA7 satellite (1 km resolution) to show in a preliminary estimate that 12,650 km/sup 2/ of forest had been cleared in Rondonia prior to 1981. A survey of LANDSAT data available from tropical regions around the world showed that there is ample data for a LANDSAT-based evaluation of deforestation for the period 1972 to 1982 for Amazonia, Central Africa and mainland Southeast Asia. The evaluation of deforestation in insular Southeast Asia would be more difficult by LANDSAT currently due to high cloud cover in the region. 10 references, 10 figures, 2 tables.
- Research Organization:
- Marine Biological Lab., Woods Hole, MA (USA). Ecosystems Center
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-80EV10468
- OSTI ID:
- 5552625
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EV/10468-T1; ON: DE84004444
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Measurement of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon using satellite remote sensing
Final report for Collaborative Research on Ecophysiological Controls on Amazonian Precipitation Seasonality and Variability