Remote sensing in the detection of hotspot occurrences in the southern region of Goiás

Abstract

In Brazil, burning areas have been the subject of discussions in recent years, causing various damages to fauna, flora, and agricultural environments. In the state of Goiás, over 16 thousand active hotspots were identified between the years 2017 and 2019. We aimed with this study to utilize remote sensing to analyze the occurrence pattern of hotspots in the southern region of Goiás from 2017 to 2019. The study employed alerts generated by satellites with specific sensors attached to their platforms (INPE/QUEIMADAS) and aimed to identify land uses (MAPBIOMAS) with the highest incidence of occurrences during this period. By using geoprocessing (QGIS v 3.22), the months with the highest number of annual burnings were July, August, September, and October was detected. The most affected municipalities were Mineiros and Rio Verde in terms of hotspot numbers, while Santa Helena de Goiás and Cachoeira Dourada had the highest number of hotspots per unit of area. The land uses with the highest number of hotspots were pasture, mosaic agriculture, forests, and natural formations. Land uses with the highest hotspot density were planted forests and sugarcane fields.