Changes in Rural Areas of the City of Carazinho (RS) between 2001 and 2020: A Temporal Analysis Using Landsat TM-7 and TM-8 Images

The analysis of satellite images is of fundamental importance in relation to understanding the evolution in land use. The general objective of this study is to analyze the changes in characteristics of rural land use in the municipality of Carazinho (RS) from 2001 to 2020 through the analysis of images taken from the Landsat TM-7 and TM-8 satellites. The TM-7 and TM-8 satellite images were classified and supervised, thus generation thematic maps with the following groups: tillage, forest, water resources and exposed soil. The analysis of this study showed that in 2001 the tillage group had an area of 10,651.6 ha, the forest group had an area of 7,248.03 ha, the water resources group occupied an area of 1,444.96 ha, and the exposed soil group occupied an area of 6,798.75 ha. When using the images taken in 2020, the same area presented the following data: the tillage group with an area of 15,941.5 ha. (60.95%), the forest group with an area of 4,320.99 ha (16.52%), water resources group with an area of 141.02 ha (0.53%), and the exposed soil group with an area of 5,747.22 ha (21.97%). The results demonstrate changes in land use during the study period, mainly with regard to the increase of cultivation areas and, consequently, the suppression of vegetation.