Despite being the single Brazilian biome whose limits are restricted to the national territory, little attention has been given to the conservation of the diverse landscape of 'Caatinga'. Given the scarcity of field data to monitor the biophysical parameters of vegetation of 'Caatinga' in semiarid regions of northeastern Brazil, this study aimed to evaluate the seasonality of spatial dynamics, by means of techniques and products of Remote Sensing. The study area included the conservation unit of the National Park of the Furna Feia and its adjacencies, being situated in the municipalities of Mossoró and Baraúna (RN, Brazil). Six orbital images of TM LANDSAT 5, orbit 216 and paragraph 63 taken during the period 2007 to 2010 were used. With the aid of the tool Geographic Information System algorithms were implemented with the generation of thematic maps expressing the variability of the parameters of surface albedo, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and surface temperature. The results were consistent with literature data for different soil uses and climatic variations. These results demonstrate the potential of the geotechnologies for understanding the dynamics of the spatial and temporal patterns of biophysical processes of interaction soil-plant-atmosphere of the semi-arid 'Caatinga'.
Landsat; modeling; climate change; land use and occupation
