Spatial-temporal analysis of land use and occupation in the coastal zone of Esplanada, Bahia

Abstract

Land use is associated with anthropogenic processes, including activities such as agriculture, forestry, urbanisation, and pasture. The term 'occupation', on the other hand, considers the natural physical aspect of the environment, such as vegetation, bodies of water, and other components that constitute such an environment. Based on this information, this study aimed to identify, map, and understand the physical characteristics of the various elements, whether natural or anthropogenic, that make up the land use and occupation space of the coastal zone of Esplanada (BA), located in the North Coast Environmental Protection Area. This study defined ten-year intervals (1985, 1995, 2005, 2015, and 2022) to analyse the variations in land use and occupation, using data from the MAPBIOMAS project (SOUZA et al., 2020). 'GeoTIFF' images with 30-metre resolution were obtained via Google Earth Engine, corresponding to MapBiomas collection 8. These were subsequently converted in QGIS software into vector files, and the geometries were collected to group present classes and generate maps of the study area. The results show patterns that stand out in the tabulated data in hectares/percentages, such as the loss of Forest Formation, expansion of Forestry and Mosaic of Uses, disappearance of other non-forest formations, emergence of a new class – other temporary crops – and increase in urbanised area.