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Environmental degradation of vegetation cover and water bodies in the semiarid region of the Brazilian Northeast via cloud geoprocessing techniques applied to orbital data

2022; Elsevier BV; Volume: 121; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jsames.2022.104164

1873-0647

Jhon Lennon Bezerra da Silva, Geber Barbosa de Albuquerque Moura, Marcos Vinícius da Silva, José Francisco de Oliveira‐Júnior, Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz Jardim, Daiana Caroline Refati, Ricardo da Cunha Correia Lima, Ailton Alves de Carvalho, Maria Beatriz Ferreira, José Ivaldo Barbosa de Brito, Roni Valter de Souza Guedes, Pabrício Marcos Oliveira Lopes, Ranyére Silva Nóbrega, Héliton Pandorfi, Alan Cézar Bezerra, Pedro Henrique Dias Batista, Fernanda Lâmede Ferreira de Jesus, Arthur Carniato Sanches, Rodrigo Couto Santos,

Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics

The spatiotemporal diagnosis of climate variability and environmental changes in arid and semiarid regions is essential to minimize pressures and impacts on natural ecosystems. Remote sensing techniques and satellite images allow the detection of such changes. The study evaluated spatio-temporally the processes of environmental degradation of vegetation cover and water resources via physical-hydric parameters at the surface using remote sensing techniques for the Northeast of Brazil (NEB). Geospatial data from TRMM and MODIS satellites/sensors, digital cloud processing of vegetation indices (NDVI), water (NDWI and MNDWI), and rainfall were performed for the period 2000 to 2019. The patterns identified in the study were evaluated by multivariate statistics and correlation. The NDVI showed the significant vulnerability of vegetation cover in the Northeastern Semiarid region, due to the intensification of droughts. The spectral behavior of NDVI is due to rainfall, confirmed by principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation. The NDWI and MNDWI detected the pattern of water availability in the semiarid region, with a critical reduction in water bodies. In the space-time analysis, the physical-hydric parameters showed a significant water deficit, followed by severe drought and prolonged drought. MNDWI was efficient and sensitive to open water content, especially in areas covered by water bodies concerning NDWI, and correlated with rainfall. The variability of rainfall directly impacted the dynamics and resilience of vegetation and water bodies in the Northeastern Semiarid region. The critical reduction of areas of water bodies, the increase of non-vegetated areas, and the pressures of anthropic activities are favored.