REMOTE-SENSING DATA FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATING BURNED AREAS - THE CASE OF EMAS-NATIONAL-PARK IN BRAZIL

In the process of implantation and management of cattle raising and ag ricultural activities in Brazil, burning of vegetation cover is a comm only employed procedure, for example, in the Central-West part, occupi ed by savannas. However, fire action has frequently reached the enviro nmental protection areas such as the Emas National Park (Goias State), which may cause destruction of the habitat and niche, death of smalle r animals, besides the environmental polution. The objective of this w ork is an analysis of TM/Landsat and AVHRR/NOAA digital data as a tool for evaluating and monitoring the areas damaged by fire in this Natio nal Park. Based on TM images (July 29, 1988 and August 14, 1988) and A VHRR data obtained during this period, a monitoring of fire action and the distribution analysis of the burned area related to the vegetatio n type were made. Change detection techniques such as post-classificat ion comparison and principal components analysis were utilized for TM images. The results show an estimate of 73,884 hectares of burned vege tation areas. The integration of TM (high spatial resolution) and AVHR R (high temporal resolution) data permits to monitorate the burning pr ocess, i.e., from the active fires detection to the burned area estima tion.