Analysis of Multispectral Remote Sensing Data Recording Changes in Agricultural Land Uses in the Brazilian Amazon

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9308495 Campbell The pace of recent colonization of the Brazilian Amazon has provoked concern over losses of large areas of tropical primary forest as well as the uncertain prospect of establishing sustainable agricultural systems in this region. Effective policies for managing development of such regions depend upon a clear and detailed understanding of how colonists have used the landscape and how their uses change over time. Previous studies have examined deforestation in such regions by means of satellite overviews, often without the benefit of field data. This study applies multispectral remote sensing data to identify land use patterns in a recently colonized region of Rondonia, Brazil. It performs a detailed examination of land use on a lot-by-lot, field-by-field basis for the period 1986 to 1992. It will focus on changes in forested area and upon land uses that have replaced forested areas during colonization. Through analysis of changes in land cover the research will isolate those biologic, social, and economic processes which contribute to deforestation. Of particular interest is the regrowth of forest after abandonment of economic activity, and how the differences between primary and secondary growth forest can be determined through spectral images from satellite data. Research on global change includes not only analysis of ways in which human activity modifies physical environments, but also the speed and character of regeneration of natural systems. This research project, combining use of remotely sensed data with ground observations and social surveys, will enhance understanding of the role of human activity in the complex processes of deforestation and forest regeneration in ecologically senstive areas of the world. ***