Multitemporal Analysis of the Soil Use and Occupation with a Focus on Forestry in the Municipality of Cândido Sales, Bahia, in 2005 and 2015

A review of the soil use and occupation in different years is a way to know the evolution of the impacts of human activities. The present study aims to analyze the soil use and occupation with a focus on forestry in the municipality of Cândido Sales, Bahia, in different periods. The satellite images were obtained from the image catalog the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Images related to September 2005 and 2015 were selected from the satellite Landsat 5. For the categorization of the soil use and occupation, we used the classification of maximum verisimilitude and supervised classification the digital images. The processing and analysis were performed using the free software Quantum GIS version 2.6.1. Four classes of the soil use and occupation were defined: Forest planting, Dense vegetation, Altered vegetation and Undergrowth/Exposed soil. After defining the use of classes, the classification automatic monitored image was carried out in order to determine the soil use and occupation. During the studied period, the soil use and occupation in the city has changed, especially in the reduction of forest planting and undergrowth/exposed soil, as well as increasing the dense vegetation and altered vegetation.