The objective of this work was to quantitatively evaluate the biophysical parameters, obtained by remote sensing, for the range area of the Tapacurá River Basin, in Pernambuco state, Brazil. Landsat 5‑TM images of 7/10/1989, 7/6/2005, and 8/29/2007 were used. The images were registered with a polynomial geometric correction of first order. Radiometric calibration, reflectance, transmittance and planetary albedo were calculated and, subsequently, thematic maps of surface albedo, surface temperature and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) were generated. The surface albedo showed increasing average values between the 1989 and 2005 images, which indicates the urban territorial expansion. The image of 8/29/2007 showed the highest land surface temperature, followed by the temperatures showed in the images of 7/10/1989 and 7/6/2005, and the highest values were those of the urban networks. The 1989 image showed the highest average value for EVI, which indicates that there was a higher vegetation presence in that date.
albedo; EVI; urban territorial expansion; environmental monitoring; land surface temperature; TM‑Landsat 5
