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APPLICATIONS OF SSR DATA TO ENVIRONMENTAL
MONITORING
The SSR images will provide information to monitor and study
several activities and phenomena in the North, Northeast and
Central-West regions of Brazil above the parallel 15°S. This
part of the country has undergone continuous changes in the
recent past, particularly over the last half century. Increasing
agricultural and cattle activities in the savanna region, the
occupation of large areas in the Amazon, mining activities, and
the construction of hydroelectric power plants have deeply
altered the soil use. Routes for migration and agricultural
production flow have been constructed and enlarged, in a non
stopping growing cycle. In order to monitor the dynamic of
these complex changes, the use of remote sensing techniques is
required.
The evaluation of the extent of deforested areas in the Amazon
region is usually done with Landsat or Spot images; however,
not only the frequency of clouds but also the long time span
between the satellite data transmission to the central receiving
station and the delivery of the image to the user, have imposed
restrictions to provide accurate and updated information. In
general, cloud free images, from different years, are used to
evaluate the deforested areas according to their availability.
The combination between the high temporal resolution and the
1 to 4 ha spatial resolution of the SSR should allow not only
the identification but also the quantification of burned areas,
especially through color composed images with visible, near-
and mid-infrared spectral bands. Currently, the detection of
burned areas is performed with NOAA/AVHRR (Scetzer et al.,
1992) images acquired once a day during late afternoon (fires
are mostly set during the morning period), with a spatial
resolution of approximately 120 ha at nadir.
Short period phenomena, such as flood and inundation, need to
be observed with high temporal resolution sensors due to their
dynamic and cloud cover problem. None of the current remote
sensing satellites is able to properly monitor these phenomena.
Even the Earth Radar Satellite (ERS-1) has a temporal
resolution of only 35 days, although, availability of data from
radar satellites are to increase significantly in a recent future.
Studies on classification, identification, regeneration, and
phenology of vegetation should benefit from SSR data. These
studies are relevant to several aspects in the Amazon region
related to climate, photosynthesis and reabsorption of emitted
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere through burning and
decomposition of biomass. Other applications of SSR data
should include the detection of impacts on the natural
environment caused by legal and illegal mining exploration
activities. It is believed that the proposed spatial resolution of
SSR will be adequate and that small features with low contrast
borders may be identified with the SSR but shall be further
analyzed with images of other satellites (e.g. Landsat, Spot,
CBERS).
It is also expected that SSR data should be useful to
OCeanographic and meteorological studies. A spectral band in
the blue region (0.459 to 0.479 pm) should allow the
identification of suspended sediments, submarine ecosystems
and oceanic islands and atolls. The possibility of acquiring
601
real time SSR data through remote receiving stations may lead
to further interest in these studies.
Between the conception and the execution of this project there
is still a long way to go. At the present INPE is seeking an
ample participation of the user community to evaluate the
potential of the SSR data in order to make the project viable.
A workshop was recently held at INPE with the participation of
a large number of potential SSR data users. Financial
resources for the SSR project are yet to be allocated. It is
expected that the satellite will be soon in operation (3 to 4
years) to provide the world wide remote sensing user's
community with relevant information from the Amazon region.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We like to thank the valuable collaboration of several colleges
from INPE such as: Alberto Setzer, Antonio R. Formaggio,
Carlos E. Santana, Dalton M. Valeriano, Danton Nunes,
Diógenes S. Alves, Eduardo J. Brito, Elizabete C. Moraes,
Evlyn M. Novo, Flavio J. Ponzzoni, Getulio T. Batista, Jodo A.
Lorenzzetti, Jodo R. Santos, Jodo V. Soares, José S. Medeiros,
Lauro C. Pereira, Luiz A. V. Dias, Merrit Stevenson, Paulo R.
Martini, Otávio L. Bogossian, Pedro H. Filho, Raimundo A.
Filho, Sherry C. Chen, Valdete Duarte, and Vitor C. Carvalho.
REFERENCES
Bogossian, O. T., J. C. Epiphanio, Y. E., Shimabukuro, and B.
F. T. Rudorff, 1995. Avaliaçäo da nova concepcáo do satélite
de sensoriamento remoto para a aplicagdo de monitoramento
ambiental. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Sdo José
dos Campos, SP, (INPE-5641-NTC/305). 23 p.
Rudorff, B. F. T., J. C. N. Epiphanio, Y. E. Shimabukuro, O.
D. Boeossiam and T. Krug, 1995. Um satéhte de
monitoramento ambiental para o Brasil. Ciéncia Hoje, SBPC,
20(115), pp. 58-61.
Santana, C. E., 1995. Environmental monitoring of the
Amazon region with small satellites. In: Proceedings of
European Space Report, International Space Congress. &
Exhibition, Small Satellites for Remote Sensing, Bremen,
Germany, 4 p.
Setzer, A.W., M. C. Pereira and A. C. Pereira, 1992. Uso de
satélites NOAA na detecgdo de queimadas no Brasil.
Climanalise, 7(8), pp. 41-53.
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B7. Vienna 1996
