Abstract

ZOROGASTUA CRUZ, Percy, QUIROZ GUERRA, Roberto and GARATUZA PAYAN, Jaime. Asssessing land cover & land use changes with satelite imagery in Piura - Peru. Ecol. apl., Jan./Aug. 2011, vol.10, no.1, p.13-22. ISSN 1726-2216.

A study was conducted in the dry forests of the Piura Region, Peru, in order to assess changes in land cover and land use. Digital image processing of LANDSAT 5 satellite images registered from 1999 to 2001 was used, through a supervised classification using a maximum likelihood algorithm. Results from the process were compared with a land cover & land use map made by INRENA with visual interpretation of LANDSAT 5 images registered from 1986 to 1994. Imagery from 1999 and 2001 were classified with 89 % of success when compared with INRENA’s classification. This comparison allowed the assessment of spatial and temporal dynamics of dry forests and to quantify deterioration and/or improvements. 38% of the dry forest remained unvaried, 13 % improved their condition, and 23% tended to reduce their coverage. Digital image processing can speed up the process and is more accurate than the visual interpretation used in INRENA’s baseline study.

Keywords: dry forest; land cover and land use changes; digital image processing.