The arboreal volume estimation studies can be made in faster and economic way by indirect methods, such as the techniques of remote sensing. In this context, this work objective to develop estimating models of arboreal volume for orbital images based on forest inventory data from Rio Grande do Sul state. In the Landsat 5 scene was converted the digital number to radiance and to reflectance, making possible associate a biophysics variable to a digital one. The sample units from the inventory went allocated on the image, whose areas had gotten the digital variable information used like independents on the statistical tests: B1 (0,45 - 0,52 μm), B2 (0,52 - 0,60 μm), B3 (0,63 - 0,69 μm), B4 (0,76 - 0,90 μm), NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and RAZÃO (Reason between bands). The dependent variable was the log volume (m³/ha). The stepwise variable selection method returned one linear model with the RAZÃO index as significant to explain the variation in volume. Finally, the selected model was implemented in the software SPRING, generating a numerical grid whose values of pixels represent the estimated volume in m³/ha and volume thematic maps for Eucalyptus sp. per production units.Pages: 1744-175
