Francielle da Silva Cardozo

Analysis and Assessment of the Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Burned Areas in the Amazon Forest

The objective of this study was to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of burned areas in Rondonia State, Brazil during the years 2000 to 2011 and evaluate the burned area maps. A Linear Spectral Mixture Model (LSMM) was applied to MODIS surface reflectance images to originate the burned areas maps, which were validated with TM/Landsat 5 and ETM+/Landsat 7 images and field data acquired in August 2013. The validation presented a correlation ranging from 67% to 96% with an average value of 86%. The lower correlation values are related to the distinct spatial resolutions of the MODIS and TM/ETM+ sensors because small burn scars are not detected in MODIS images and higher spatial correlations are related to the presence of large fires, which are better identified in MODIS, increasing the accuracy of the mapping methodology. In addition, the 12-year burned area maps of Rondonia indicate that fires, as a general pattern, occur in areas that have already been converted to some land use, such as vegetal extraction, large animal livestock areas or diversified permanent crops. Furthermore, during the analyzed period, land use conversion associated with climatic events significantly influenced the occurrence of fire in Rondonia and amplified its impacts.

Using Remote Sensing Products for Environmental Analysis in South America

Land cover plays a major role in many biogeochemical models that represent processes and connections with terrestrial systems; hence, it is a key component for public decisions in ecosystems management. The advance of remote sensing technology, combined with the emergence of new operational products, offers alternatives to improve the accuracy of environmental monitoring and analysis. This work uses the GLOBCOVER, the Vegetation Continuous Field (VCF), MODIS Fire Radiative Power (FRP) and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) remotely sensed databases to analyze the biomass burning distribution, the land use and land cover characteristics and the percent of tree cover in South America during the years 2000 to 2005. Initially, GLOBCOVER was assessed based on VCF product, and subsequently used for quantitative analysis of the spatial distribution of the South America fires with the fire radiative power (FRP). The results show that GLOBCOVER has a tendency to overestimate forest classes and to underestimate urban and mangroves areas. The fire quantification based on GLOBCOVER product shows that the highest incidence of fires can be observed in the arc of deforestation, located in the Amazon forest border, with vegetation cover composed mainly of broadleaved evergreen or semi-deciduous forest. A time series analysis of FRP database indicates that biomass burning occurs mainly in areas of broadleaved evergreen or semi-deciduous forest and in Brazilian Cerrado associated with grassland management, agricultural land clearing and with the deforestation of Amazon tropical rainforest. Also, variations in FRP intensity and spread can be attributed to rainfall anomalies, such as in 2004, when South America had a positive anomaly rainfall.

Monitoring the transport of biomass burning emission in South America

Abstract The main objective of this work is to use Fire Radiative Power (FRP) to estimate particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions for the South America 2002 burning season. Sixteen small–scale combustion experiments were performed near the Laboratory of Radiometry (LARAD) at the National Institute for Space Research (DSR/INPE) to obtain the coefficient that relates the biomass consumption with the FRP released. The fire products MOD14/MYD14 from the MODIS Terra/Aqua platforms and the Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (WFABBA) on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) were utilized to calculate the total amount of biomass burned. This inventory is modeled in the Coupled Chemistry–Aerosol–Tracer Transport model coupled to the Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (CCATT–BRAMS) and compared with data collected in the Large Scale Biosphere–Atmosphere (LBA) Smoke, Aerosols, Clouds, rainfall, and Climate (SMOCC) and Radiation, Cloud, and Climate Interactions (RaCCI) Experiments. The relationship between the modeled PM2.5 and CO shows a good agreement with SMOCC/RaCCI data in the general pattern of temporal evolution. The results showed high correlations, with values between 0.80 and 0.95 (significant at 0.05 level by student t–test), for the CCATT–BRAMS simulations with PM2.5 and CO. Furthermore, the slope analysis reveals an underestimation of emission values with CCATT–BRAMS modeled values, 20–30% lower than observed data with discrepancies mainly on days with large fires. However, the underestimation is similar to the uncertainties in traditional emissions methods.

Validation of MODIS MCD45A1 product to identify burned areas in Acre State - Amazon forest

Burned areas map is essential in many applications and the orbital sensors have been used to monitor fires for many years, providing a better understanding of processes at different scales and being the only practical technique to estimate fires in large areas. However, remote sensing methods have limitations that could cause errors in the final products. Therefore, the objective of this work is to evaluate the MCD45A1 burned area product derived from MODIS sensor in Amazon tropical forest by comparing this dataset with the reference data derived from the mapping of burned areas in Acre State/Brazil acquired by TM sensor aboard of Landsat 5 and with a fieldwork that took place in November 2011. The results showed that de MCD45A1 product presented 93% of omission errors in 2010 and 96% in 2011 year in relation to reference data, presenting a low confidence in identifying the burned areas in Amazon region.

Determinação e modelagem da taxa de consumo de biomassa queimada

The present study evaluates the use of fire radiative energy (FRE) to estimate the emissions of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2,5µm) from the multiplicative coefficient relating the biomass consumption with the released FRE. The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) products were utilized to calculate the total amount of aerosol emitted to the atmosphere. The CCATT-BRAMS (Coupled Chemistry-Aerosol-Tracer Transport model coupled to Brazilian Regional Atmospheric Modelling System) model was used to estimate the PM2,5µm concentration generated by biomass burning. The model results were compared with data obtained from the LBA (Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere), SMOCC (Smoke, Aerosols, Clouds, rainfall, and Climate) and RaCCI (Radiation, Cloud, and Climate Interactions) field experiments. The estimated PM2,5µm emission has a correlation with the SMOCC/RaCCI data greater than 92%. It was also verified that the maximum daily consumption can exceed 5 Tg (5,000,000 ton.), with a daily average of 2.1 Tg. The resulting method from laboratory analysis estimated a total of 0.28 ± 0.01 Pg (1015 g) biomass consumed from July to November 2002 in South America.

O uso da energia radiativa do fogo para estimar as emissões de queimadas para a América do Sul

Every year large areas of the globe are submitted to the action of anthropogenic and natural fires. It is estimated that more than 100 million tons of aerosols from smoke are emitted into the atmosphere, which 80% occur in tropical regions of the globe. The process of biomass burning releases into the atmosphere trace gases and aerosol particles that affect significantly the air quality, the tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry, the radiation balance and the dynamics and microphysics of clouds. This study aims to use the fire radiative energy (FRE) derived from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) to estimate emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometer (PM2.5µm) for 2002 South America fires, and to model these emissions in CCATT-BRAMS (Coupled Chemistry-Aerosol-Tracer Transport model coupled to Brazilian Regional Atmospheric Modeling System). With a correlation greater than 86% between the aerosol emission data (in kg.s -1) and the FRE (MJ.s -1), three coefficients for GOES satellite data were originated. The use of FRE and emission coefficients to estimate the PM2.5µm m and CO emitted in biomass burning showed a correlation of approximately 91 % between modeled data and the data used as ground truth obtained from LBA (Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia) SMOCC (Smoke, Aerosols, Clouds, rainfall, and Climate) and RaCCI (Radiation, Cloud, and Climate Interactions).

RELAÇÃO ENTRE O ÂNGULO DE VISADA E A ESTIMATIVA DA POTÊNCIA RADIATIVA DO FOGO

As queimadas atingem grandes areas, constituindo-se como um agente modelador dos ecossistemas e contribuem para o acumulo de gases e aerossois na atmosfera. Atualmente, o sensoriamento remoto e a principal fonte de dados para estudar as queimadas devido a aquisicao de dados globais com uma periodicidade constante. No entanto, sao necessarias mais informacoes sobre as queimadas alem da sua localizacao espacial, dentre elas a biomassa queimada. O metodo mais utilizado para isso atualmente e derivado da Potencia Radiativa do Fogo (FRP), ja que a energia emitida como radiacao eletromagnetica durante a combustao pode ser diretamente relacionada com a biomassa queimada. Contudo, alguns fatores introduzem erros nas estimativas de FRP, como o ângulo de visada. Assim, para avaliar a influencia dessa variavel na FRP foi realizado um experimento de combustao em pequena escala utilizando como biomassa a palha da cana-de-acucar. Ainda, foi determinado o coeficiente de biomassa queimada para a cana-de-acucar. As estimativas obtidas permitiram concluir que a FRP diminui com o aumento do ângulo de visada, e, sendo assim, o ângulo de visada foi considerado no coeficiente de biomassa queimada. Pretende-se futuramente empregar os resultados encontrados para estimar a biomassa queimada e suas emissoes provenientes da queimada pre-colheita da cana-de-acucar.

AVALIAÇÃO DE IMAGENS SIMULADAS DA CÂMERA MUX DO SATÉLITE CBERS-4 APLICADAS À ANÁLISE AMBIENTAL

Metodos de simulacao de imagens orbitais sao frequentemente utilizadas na avaliacao do desempenho de determinado sistema-sensor. A partir do emprego destas tecnicas e possivel analisar e estimar o comportamento das imagens que serao geradas pelos sensores projetados, possibilitando uma estimativa da qualidade e das aplicacoes decorrentes do lancamento do satelite. Neste contexto, torna-se de fundamental importância a analise das imagens orbitais e das possiveis aplicacoes provenientes do satelite CBERS-4, que deve ser lancado ao final do ano de 2014 e tera uma politica de distribuicao gratuita dos dados. Deste modo, o objetivo deste trabalho e avaliar o potencial da câmera MUX do CBERS-4, com 20 m de resolucao espacial, para mapeamento de cobertura do solo do municipio de Apui no estado do Amazonas. Para isto, as imagens MUX sao simuladas a partir de imagens do satelite RapidEye e filtragem baseada no modelo do processo de imageamento. Para avaliar os resultados da simulacao, uma imagem da câmera TM do satelite Landsat-5 e processada para produzir um mapa de cobertura de solo, que e comparada ao mapa gerado pela imagem MUX simulada do CBERS-4. Os valores de NDVI calculados a partir das imagens MUX simulada e TM-5 tambem sao analisados. Os experimentos mostram que o processamento das imagens simuladas da câmera MUX apresentaram resultados semelhantes aos das imagens do sensor TM. Em geral, as classificacoes da cobertura do solo para os sensores MUX e TM apresentam boa concordância, com acuracia global de 87% e Kappa de 0,72. Ainda, percebe-se que os valores de NDVI estimados pela MUX sao em media 25% maiores que os valores estimados pelo TM e apresentam uma correlacao de 85% (significante a 0.05, teste t-student).

Estimation of instantaneous fire flaming and smoldering size to Amazon Rainforest

Wildfires plays a fundamental intervention in global biogeochemical cycle, by the chemical reaction occurring in the combustion process, and the organic compounds present in vegetation returns to the atmosphere and soil in a cyclical behavior. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to develop a method to estimate the instantaneous fire size in Brazil using Thematic Mapper (TM) aboard of Landsat 5 and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) aboard of Landsat 7. The results indicate that active fire to pastures/grasslands is approximately 38% higher than that found for forest areas, 31% higher than the same coefficient used to estimate the fire size in areas of herbaceous and shrub vegetation and 11% higher than the coefficient used in agricultural areas.

Spectral signature of leaves of amazon rainforest tree species

Remote sensing is based on the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the portion of the electromagnetic radiation that interacts with Earth surface targets. Studies to analyze the spectrum of reflectance of surface targets by sensor systems could be done by terrestrial (laboratory and field), aerial and orbital acquisitions. Consequently, for vegetation studies through remote sensing observations is necessary to know the physiology of the plant studied and the reflectance spectrum, considering that the solar radiation reaches the earths surface and results in three fractions: one part is absorbed, another is reflected and a third part is transmitted. The leaves are the principal absorber of electromagnetic radiation in a canopy and represents the element that more contribute to the signal detected by orbital sensors. The present work has as its main goal the analysis of the spectral signature responses of common species of several forest functional types in a tropical forest area in the Amazon.