SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF LAND USE AND NORMALIZED DIFFERENCE VEGETATION INDEX EM SETOR DE CABECEIRA DO RIO SAO LOURENCO, CAMPO VERDE, MT

There was an analysis of spatial and temporal dynamics of land use over a period of 26 years in the watershed located in headwaters of Sao Lourenco River, located in the Cerrado biome. The images used to conduct the study were obtained by the sensor Thematic Mapper (TM) Landsat 5, referred to path/row 226/71 of the years 1985, 1997 and 2011, with a spatial resolution of 30 meters. The land use map was generated from supervised classification using Maximum Likelihood algorithm. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was generated from 4 and 3 bands corresponding to the near infrared and red, respectively. It was verified that over 78% of the watershed area is intended to agriculture. The forest class increased over the years analyzed, which is explained by the plantation of eucalyptus forest in the northern part of the watershed. The NDVI showed areas with little biomass, differing them from areas with dense vegetation cover. By analyzing the NDVI of an area in the process of environmental recovery, called ecological restoration demonstration unit, it was noted that in nine months of implantation, the area still does not show spectral features that are similar to the riparian forest. The riparian forests of the watershed represent potential dispersal corridors of biological flow, which connect the upland areas located in the Cerrado to the lowlands of Pantanal, located in the southwest of Mato Grosso. The research provides grant for environmental adaptation of the rural properties along with the relevant environmental legislation.