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LAND USE AND LAND COVER MAPPING IN PARAIBA-CNPQ PROJECT* 
THE APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY. 
Harendra S.Teotia ' 
Klaus A. Ulbricht * 
Daniel L. Civco? 
' Prof. Federal Univ. of Paraiba(UFPB) - PB, Brazil 
? Scientist DLR-Optoelektronik, Wessling, Germany 
* Prof. NRME, U-87, Univ.of Connecticut, CT, USA 
Commission VII, Working Group 3 
KEY WORDS: SPOT, Litoral Paraibano, CNPQ, Land Use/Land Cover, Visual Interpretation, 
Digital Interpretation, ERDAS. 
ABSTRACT: 
The present investigation provides an overview of methodology and results of land use/land cover 
interpretation through visual and digital interpretation, carried out as part of the multitemporal and 
multisources project of the CNPQ for the Litoral zone of the state of Paraiba. The results of visual 
interpretation, computer classification (unsupervised and supervised), map preparation, limitations, 
utilities and implementation for the development of the region are discussed in this project. 
The digital image processing systems resulted in the maps of land use/land cover classification for a 
part of the coastal regions of the Paraiba state of NE Brazil. The major land use/land cover classes 
derived, using the SPOT data and ERDAS systems are: water, cultivated lands; urban, pasture 
lands; forest lands, swampy lands, poor drained lands, barren land, and alluvial lands which were 
further subdivided into several subunits in accordance with their limitations, gray values, and utility. 
INTRODUCTION 
  
Now-a-days the combined impact between 
population growth and demands of food is 
putting a pressure on Northeast Brazilian 
environment, which are the main reasons in 
changing land use patterns of the region. 
Land use/land cover mapping is an integral 
part of any regional and local planning 
projects in order to develop procedures for 
land use mapping, monitoring and land 
allocation. 
Remote Sensing and Earth Resources 
Information Systems are being used very 
frequently for mapping and analysis of natural 
resources for regional planning of coastal 
regions. Remote Sensing provides one or a 
few of the many data required for such 
systems for evaluation of various types of 
land capabilities, such as land capabilities for 
urban land use, agricultural use, land use/land 
cover and for forest use. 
The coastal zone of northeastern Brazil comprises 
of nine states, such as, Maranhdo, Piaui, Ceara, 
Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba, Pernambuco, 
Alagoas, Sergipe, and Bahia. It has various 
physiographical relief and geomorphological 
forms, such as alluvial plains, flood plains, low 
lands, cultivated and uncultivated fields, hills, 
inselbergs, rock ridges, rocky land, eroded lands, 
swampy and poor drained lands. 
Land use is one of the major factors affecting 
Global environmental conditions. The iterative 
cyclical practice of land cleaning, cultivation 
abondonment, and reclening, combined with a 
lack of economic incentives to promote fertility 
maintenance, has been responsible for increasing 
699 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B7. Vienna 1996