Multitemporal analysis of vegetable coverage in the hydrographic basin of Ceroula stream, Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract: The watersheds comprise a portion of the land surface where the surface waters converge to a river mouth and can be found at various scales and used as planning units. This work aims to discuss the changes in the landscape of the Ceroula Stream Basin in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, through an analysis of the coverage and use of the basin surface in a twenty-nine-year temporal cut. Images from the Landsat 5 TM satellites - August 3, 1987, and August 4, 2005 - and Landsat 8 OLI - August 2, 2016 - were used to obtain the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and later quantification of representative classes of the surface. The results indicate that more than half of the native vegetation cover of the basin was replaced by anthropic activities and that most of the remaining forest biomass is related to gallery forests, while the deforested areas are located in the interfluve and in the surroundings of springs. The process of deforestation in the region may threaten the basin as a source of supply for Campo Grande city, since within it is located the Environmental Preservation Area of Ceroula, created to preserve water resources for urban supply.