Earth  ID: 3113

Rondonia Deforestation (WMS)

Visualizations by Joycelyn Thomson Released on February 17, 2005
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A animation of deforestation in Rondonia from 1975 through 2001 from Landsat imagery

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Throughout much of the 1980s, deforestation in Brazil eliminated more than 15,000 square kilometers (9000 square miles) of forest per year. Data gathered by several satellites in the Landsat series of spacecraft shows enormous tracts of forest disappearing in Rondonia, Brazil from 1975 through 2001. The human phenomenon of deforestation starts, especially in the dense tropical forests of Brazil, when systematic cutting of a road opens new territory to potential deforestation by penetrating into new areas. Clearing of vegetation along the sides of those roads then tends to fan out to create a pattern akin to a fish skeleton. As new paths appear in the woods, more areas become vulnerable. Finally, the spaces between the 'skeletal bones' fall to defoliation.
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A Landsat-2 image of Rondonia, Brazil, taken on June 19, 1975
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A Landsat-5 image of Rondonia, Brazil, taken on August 1, 1986
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A Landsat-4 image of Rondonia, Brazil, taken on June 22, 1992
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A Landsat-7 image of Rondonia, Brazil, taken on February 7, 2001

For More Information

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/stories/earthday2001/index.html

Visualization Credits

Joycelyn Thomson (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Darrel Williams (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3113

Mission:
Landsat

Data Used:
Landsat-2/MSS
1975/06/16
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Landsat-4/TM
1986/08/01
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Landsat-7/ETM+
2001/02/07
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Landsat-5/MSS
1992/06/22
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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
WMS

Keywords:
DLESE >> Agricultural science
DLESE >> Environmental science
DLESE >> Forestry
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Biosphere >> Terrestrial Ecosystems >> Forests
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Habitat Conversion/Fragmentation >> Deforestation
SVS >> Hyperwall
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0