Cultivated pastures are the most representative land use and land cover classes in the three municipalities (Araguari, Uberaba and Uberlândia) belonging to the Triangulo Mineiro mesorregion in the western part of Minas Gerais State. The objective of this research was to conduct the spectral and temporal characterization of cultivated pastures from the above mentioned municipalities through MODIS EVI2 time series (enhanced vegetation index from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, time series of 2000-2010). We selected 25 sampling areas of cultivated pastures (Brachiaria) and three additional areas occupied with cropland, forestland, and grassland. Temporal series of MODIS EVI2 were obtained from the National Space Research Institute (INPE) data gateway and analyzed via graphs of lines, cluster analysis and cumulative vegetation indices. Results showed that it is possible to discriminate cultivated pastures from other land use and land cover classes and that the cumulative EVI2 data involving entire temporal series can increase this discrimination capability substantially. Most of the cultivated pastures presented distinct spectro-temporal signatures. Changes of cultivated pastures for other land use classes (for instance, croplands and vice-versa) are easily identified in the considered temporal series.
Vegetation index; remote sensing; pasture mapping
