USO DO NDVI PARA ANÁLISE MULTITEMPORAL DA COBERTURA VEGETAL DA RPPN DONA ARACY

Abstract

The creation of Conservation Units (CUs) is one of the main tools for preserving biodiversity and environmental services in Brazil, a country renowned for its rich natural diversity. This study assessed the conservation effectiveness of the RPPN Dona Aracy, located between the Cerrado and Pantanal biomes, through a multitemporal analysis of vegetation cover in 2020 and 2024. Satellite images from the Landsat-8 OLI mission, with a spatial resolution of 30 meters, were used. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated based on near-infrared (NIR) and red (RED) spectral bands using QGIS software (QGIS, 2024). The NDVI enabled the identification of distinct land cover classes, such as water, exposed soil, herbaceous vegetation, and arboreal vegetation. The analysis compared changes within the RPPN and its 10 km buffer zone. The results revealed that between 2020 and 2024, the internal area of the RPPN and its surroundings experienced a significant decrease in indicators of understory and tree vegetation, along with an increase in exposed soil, as well as large areas affected by fires, indicating vegetation suppression caused by fires around the boundaries of the protected area. These findings underscore the importance of CUs in promoting native vegetation recovery and biomass maintenance, even under external pressures. The use of geotechnologies, such as NDVI, proved essential for monitoring vegetation dynamics and evaluating CU effectiveness. This study reinforces the relevance of the RPPN Dona Aracy as a conservation tool and emphasizes the need for additional protection measures in its buffer zone to safeguard vital ecosystems.