SATELLITE IMAGES FOR RECOGNITION OF LANDSCAPE AND LANDUSE CHANGES

Satellite images from 1985, 1988 and 1996 are used for a visual interp retation of the coastal area around Joao Pessoa, situated in the north east Brazilian state of Paraiba. The interpretation resulted in the re cognition of several changes and geographic relationships: changes in the course of the river Paraiba over a distance of several kilometres, coastline changes resulting from the S-N ocean current induced by the southeastern trade winds, growth of the city of Joao Pessoa and incre ase in density of the built-up areas, and constancy of the borders bet ween sugar-cane fields, pasture land, and the remnants of the original coastal forests, the 'Matas Atlanticas'. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.