Analysis of Precipitation and Evapotranspiration in Atlantic Rainforest Remnants in Southeastern Brazil from Remote Sensing Data

The Atlantic Rainforest has been intensely devastated since the beginning of the colonization of Brazil, mainly due to wood extraction and urban and rural settlement. Although the Atlantic Rainforest has been reduced and fragmented, its remnants are important sources of heat and water vapor to the atmosphere. The present study aimed to characterize and to analyze the temporal dynamics of precipitation and evapotranspiration in the Atlantic Rainforest remnants in São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil, for the period from January 2000 to December 2010. To achieve this, global precipitation and evapotranspiration data from TRMM satellite and MOD16 algorithm as well as forest remnant maps produced by SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation and Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) were used. Results found in this study demonstrated that the use of remote sensing was an important tool for analyzing hydrological variables in Atlantic Rainforest remnants, which can contribute to better understand the interaction between tropical forests and the atmosphere, and for generating input data necessary for surface models coupled to atmospheric general circulation models

Time-weighted dynamic time warping analysis for mapping interannual cropping practices changes in large-scale agro-industrial farms in Brazilian Cerrado

Methods for crop phenology detection using time series analysis have provided accurate information for large agricultural areas in shorter processing times, which can be useful for agronomic management and supply chain monitoring. Given the crop dynamics in the Brazilian Cerrado, with alternating crop type plantings, crop successions, and crop rotations, as well as climate and crop practices variation between harvest periods, these methods can be useful for detecting subtle land use and land cover changes at farm and crop field scales, improving thematic classifications and the near real-time crop monitoring. In this study, the Time-Weighted Dynamic Time Warping method was applied to recognize patterns in Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time series for land use and cover classification, identifying crop successions and rotations at crop field level in a large-scale agro-industrial agglomerate of farms located at Brazilian Cerrado. We detected and analyzed temporal cropping patterns in training samples to classify the MODIS time series and images, using a robust ground truth data set for validation. The method distinguished Cotton-fallow, Soybean-cotton, Soybean-maize, and Soybean-millet cropping patterns with an overall accuracy above 85% for all evaluated harvest periods. Seasonal variations in the crop fields, caused by interannual succession and rotation, were detected. The method demonstrated the benefit of creating a spatial vector data set for supporting decision-making in several crop management contexts, improving crop and supply chain monitoring

Government policies endanger the indigenous peoples of the Brazilian Amazon

The Brazilian Amazon rainforest deforestation rate increased by 34.1% between 2018 and 2019, reaching even protected areas, such as Indigenous Lands (ILs). In particular, Ituna/Itatá IL, in the state of Pará, restricted to the study of Igarapé Ipiaçava isolated indigenous people, has experienced a 654% deforestation rate increase during the same period. The mainstream deforestation analysis explains it as a struggle between conservation and development, which is commonly typified by large-scale producers who replace natural vegetation with pasturelands and crop fields, especially in agricultural frontiers, as ILs are barriers for protecting forests. In this work, we expose a devised and underlying deforestation process in Ituna/Itatá, and argue that land grabbers and squatters have promoted this boom by moving in, clearing, subdividing, and occupying this IL as if it were real estate. Such process mischaracterizes it and obstructs the demarcation process, in the expectation of a land regularization law that authenticates selling the land in the future. This process seems to be promoted by the Brazilian Federal Government rhetoric and mediated by local politicians, somewhat passing on the message of feeble repression against invasions of public lands. Our results evidence a process of IL mischaracterization, with primary forests converted to pasturelands, and a 1994.30 ton year−1 increase of annual estimates of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) associated with fires. Also, 94% of Ituna/Itatá has been claimed in the Brazilian Rural Environmental Registry, resembling a city allotment process, with a road network conditioning and suggesting axes of deforestation expansion. Measures to prevent deforestation are vital not only to sustain land demarcation processes but also to stop it from spreading to other ILs