Using Spatial Technology For AnalyzingDisturbed Areas And Potential Site Selection InChihuahua, Mexico

The objectives were to: 1) analyze the physical-chemical variables of a site in order to characterize the disturbed area’s suitability for planting; 2) detect disturbed areas through spectral transformation techniques; and 3) generate cartographic maps with the location of the disturbed areas suitable for planting. The field data, Landsat TM 7 images, and digital elevation models were analyzed with IDRISI and ArcView. Multivariate Cluster Analysis, and Principal Components Analyses were applied to valuate the biometric and physicalchemical variables of the soil, and detection of disturbed areas. Physicalchemical analyses showed similar characteristics for the whole area in the study; only soil depths are considered important for the establishment of forest plantations. The combination of bands 3, 4 and 5 allowed detection of, in a preliminary way, the disturbed areas. The Principal Component Analysis showed that the first component reduced the dimensionality of the data while the second component detected the disturbed areas.