This study aimed to identify and quantify the land use in ten watersheds in the Capivara river-basin, in the municipality of Botucatu - SP, Brazil. A database was made using the Geographical Information System - IDRISI. The results showed that the classes of agriculture and pasture were the most significant land use, as they occupied more than half of the area of the watersheds. The high index of land use by pasture, brushwood, reforestation and forests, reflected the predominance of sandy soils with low fertility. The images of the satellite LANDSAT-5 allowed the mapping of the land use in a fast and reliable way. In addition they supplied an excellent database for future planning and management of the regional agricultural activities. GIS - IDRISI allowed the identification, digital classification and mathematical modeling of several areas of land use.
satellite image; GIS-IDRISI; soil conservation
