Sugarcane expansion in the Capivara River hydrographic basin (SP) between 1977 and 2010

Remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) with applied digital image-processing (DIP) techniques are essential tools for maintaining land-use records over time. The sugar-ethanol industry has increased over the last 30 years in areas of the Paranapanema Valley in the Western Sao Paulo Plateau, which is considered one of the last major regions of Sao Paulo State, Brazil with soil, climate, and relief favorable for expanding sugarcane production. However, there is still no detailed study on changes in land-use and land occupation in the Capivara River basin. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the expanding land-use toward sugarcane crop production throughout the middle course of the Capivara River basin, southwestern Sao Paulo, Brazil between 1970 and 2010 using remote sensing. Thus, thematic maps referring to soil types and the land-use of the area were organized using GIS tools, and the cartographic data were used to prepare maps with ArcMap 9.3 software. The results showed that there was a 31.24 % expansion in sugarcane crops within the Capivara River basin area, from 4.32 % in 1977 to 35.56 % in 2010. This expansion mainly occurred in areas previously used for pastures but may have also occurred in areas of forest remnants.