Evaluation of reforestation using remote sensing techniques

The utilization of remotely sensed orbital data for forestry inventory. The study area (approximately 491,100 ha) encompasses the municipalities of Ribeirao Preto, Altinopolis, Cravinhos, Serra Azul, Luis Antonio, Sao Simao, Sant Rita do Passa Quatro and Santa Rosa do Viterbo (Sao Paulo State). Materials used were LANDSAT data from channels 5 and 7 (scale 1:250,000) and CCT's. Visual interpretation of the imagery showed that for 1977 a total of 37,766.00 ha and for 1979 38,003.75 ha were reforested with Pinus and Eucalyptus within the area under study. The results obtained show that LANDSAT data can be used efficiently in forestry inventory studies

Evaluating the reforested area for the municipality of Buri by automatic analysis of LANDSAT imagery

The author has identified the following significant results. The class of reforestation (Pinus, Eucalyptus, Araucaria) was defined using iterative image analysis (1-100) and LANDSAT MSS data. Estimates of class area by 1-100 were compared with data supplied by the forestry institute in Sao Paulo. LANDSAT channels 4 and 5 served to differentiate the Pinus, Eucalyptus, and Araucaria from the other trees. Channels 6 and 7 gave best results for differentiating between the classes. A good representative spectral response was obtained for Auraucaria on these two channels. The small relative differences obtained were +4.24% for Araucaria, -7.51% for Pinus, and -32.07% for Eucalyptus

A long-term perspective on deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon

Monitoring tropical forest cover is central to biodiversity preservation, terrestrial carbon stocks, essential ecosystem and climate functions, and ultimately, sustainable economic development. The Amazon forest is the Earth’s largest rainforest, and despite intensive studies on current deforestation rates, relatively little is known as to how these compare to historic (pre 1985) deforestation rates. We quantified land cover change between 1975 and 2014 in the so-called Arc of Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon, covering the southern stretch of the Amazon forest and part of the Cerrado biome. We applied a consistent method that made use of data from Landsat sensors: Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager (OLI). We acquired suitable images from the US Geological Survey (USGS) for five epochs: 1975, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2014. We then performed land cover analysis for each epoch using a systematic sample of 156 sites, each one covering 10 km × 10 km, located at the confluence point of integer degree latitudes and longitudes. An object-based classification of the images was performed with five land cover classes: tree cover, tree cover mosaic, other wooded land, other land cover, and water. The automatic classification results were corrected by visual interpretation, and, when available, by comparison with higher resolution imagery. Our results show a decrease of forest cover of 24.2% in the last 40 years in the Brazilian Arc of Deforestation, with an average yearly net forest cover change rate of -0.71% for the 39 years considered

Bootstrap não paramétrico para análise de consistência de método para zoneamento agrícola.

Resumo: Entende-se por área potencial para determinada atividade agrícola aquela que, por características naturais, geográficas, sociais, econômicas ou políticas, é vocacionada ou apresenta aptidão para este tipo de atividade, uso ou fim. A avaliação do potencial das terras é um importante instrumento de apoio na elaboração de políticas públicas e instrumentos de gestão, pois auxilia na conciliação das necessidades sociais e econômicas regionais, salvaguardando os recursos naturais para usos futuros (Miura et al., 2011). Estão disponíveis vários métodos capazes de predizer o potencial das terras com base em seus atributos físicos, biológicos e socioeconômicos, cujos resultados são normalmente apresentados na forma de um zoneamento territorial (Andersen et al., 2005). A partir de um estudo de zoneamento pode-se obter um resultado quantitativo que especifique, por exemplo, quantos hectares de um município são considerados aptos para um conjunto específico de culturas agrícolas. A pergunta que se apresenta é: como avaliar a qualidade desse prognóstico? Neste trabalho, propõe-se o uso da técnica bootstrap não paramétrico para obtenção de evidências que permitam responder a esta questão. Também são utilizados diversos recursos de visualização de dados quantitativos no intuito de orientar a discussão dos resultados. Partiu-se de um estudo de caso realizado por Miura et al. (2011) em 40 municípios de três microrregiões (Cerro Largo, Santo Ângelo e Santa Rosa) da Mesorregião Noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul (Figura 1), cujo objetivo foi identificar áreas aptas para o cultivo de espécies vegetais com potencial bioenergético

Estimating reforestation by means of remote sensing

LANDSAT imagery at the scale of 1:250.000 and obtained from bands 5 and 7 as well as computer compatible tapes were used to evaluate the effectiveness of remotely sensed orbital data in inventorying forests in a 462,100 area of Brazil emcompassing the cities of Ribeirao, Altinopolis Cravinhos, Serra Azul, Luis Antonio, Sao Simao, Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, and Santa Rosa do Viterbo. Visual interpretation of LANDSAT imagery shows that 37,766 hectares (1977) and 38,003.75 hectares (1979) were reforested areas of pine and eucalyptus species. An increment of 237.5 hectares was found during this two-year time lapse

Land cover changes in the Brazilian Cerrado and Caatinga biomes from 1990 to 2010 based on a systematic remote sensing sampling approach

Abstract - The main objective of our study was to provide consistent information on land cover changes between the years 1990 and 2010 for the Cerrado and Caatinga Brazilian seasonal biomes. These areas have been overlooked in terms of land cover change assessment if compared with efforts in monitoring the Amazon rain forest. For each of the target years (1990, 2000 and 2010) land cover information was obtained through an object-based classification approach for 243 sample units (10 km × 10 km size), using (E)TM Landsat images systematically located at each full degree confluence of latitude and longitude. The images were automatically pre-processed, segmented and labelled according to the following legend: Tree Cover (TC), Tree Cover Mosaic (TCM), Other Wooded Land (OWL), Other Land Cover (OLC) and Water (W). Our results indicate the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes lost (gross loss) respectively 265,595 km2 and 89,656 km2 of natural vegetation (TC + OWL) between 1990 and 2010. In the same period, these areas also experienced gain of TC and OWL. By 2010, the percentage of natural vegetation cover remaining in the Cerrado was 47% and in the Caatinga 63%. The annual (net) rate of natural vegetation cover loss in the Cerrado slowed down from ?0.79% yr?1 to ?0.44% yr?1 from the 1990s to the 2000s, while in the Caatinga for the same periods the rate increased from ?0.19% yr?1 to ?0.44% yr?1. In summary, these Brazilian biomes experienced both loss and gains of Tree Cover and Other Wooded Land; however a continued net loss of natural vegetation was observed for both biomes between 1990 and 2010. The average annual rate of change in this period was higher in the Cerrado (?0.6% yr?1) than in the Caatinga (?0.3% yr?1)

Innovative Manufacturing Process for Defect Free, Affordable, High Pressure, Thin Walled, Hydraulic Tubing

Various thermo-mechanical processes were performed on a standard and a low oxygen content Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Testing was performed to determine whether it was possible to achieve a combination of tensile properties comparable to those of Ti-3Al-2.5V by means of cold working and annealing Ti-6Al-4V from a thickness of 0.671 cm (0.264 in.) to that between 0.081 and 0.094 cm (0.032-0.037 in.), which had never been carried out before. The resulting mechanical properties of this study were compared to the mechanical properties of Ti-3Al-2.5V to determine whether Ti-6Al-4V could be used as a suitable replacement for hydraulic tubing applications. The optimum results were achieved with 10-15% cold work and annealing at 750 A degrees C (1382 A degrees F) for 2 h between cold work reductions in thickness. It was concluded that Ti-6Al-4V was a suitable replacement for Ti-3Al-2.5V for hydraulic tubing with an increase in ultimate and yield strengths, but with a slight sacrifice of 5-10% elongation