Natural and Environmental Vulnerability of the Rio Formoso Watershed, Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract

The evolution of the techniques of remote sensing has made possible to analyze greater regions with low cost and also high level of accuracy. This technology has been applied at the Watershed of Formoso River (State of Mato Grosso do Sul) in the elaboration of the landuse maps from 1989 and 2005. In this period has been observed an increase of the surface destined to grazing and agriculture and also the deforestation of the Biome Cerrado. Using the land use maps and other information about the area (such as geology, geomorphology and soil association) it has been elaborated the Maps of Natural and Environmental Vulnerability of 1989 and 2005 with the conservationist and the erosive approaches. Although it is not possible to affirm which approach is more suitable to the environment studies, it has been possible to observe that the erosive approach became more adequate to identify modifications on the land use, demonstrating a direct relationship between the growing of deforestation and the increasing of the vulnerability, so better translating the worries that these changes can bring to the environmental characteristics of the region.

Keywords

• Remote Sensing
• Land use
• Maps algebra