SYNTHESIS REPORT Land Use Change Monitoring and Dynamics in the La Plata River Basin Using Remote Sensing – Methodological Developments

The document details the application of MODIS satellite imagery and automated algorithms to track land use dynamics in the La Plata River Basin. It focuses on the transition of agricultural frontiers—from deforestation to intensification—and the use of remote sensing to estimate evapotranspiration and water balance. A case study in Mato Grosso demonstrates how these tools can map the expansion of soybean and sugarcane, the adoption of double-cropping systems, and the resulting impacts on natural biomes like the Cerrado and Amazon forest.

• The La Plata basin faces significant environmental pressure due to its role in international food security, with 22 million hectares of natural land converted to soybean cultivation in Brazil and Argentina over a decade.
• A two-step automatic classification methodology using MODIS multitemporal profiles was developed to first separate agricultural areas from native vegetation and pasture, and then differentiate specific crop classes using agricultural calendars.
• Agricultural frontiers in Mato Grosso evolve through five stages: pre-settlement, occupation, consolidation, intensification, and intensive, marked by three specific frontiers: deforestation, economic, and intensification.
• Agricultural intensification, specifically the adoption of double-cropping systems with two commercial crops, is estimated to have reduced the need for land expansion; without it, an additional 1.68 million hectares would have been required to reach 2006-2007 production levels in Mato Grosso.
• The use of MOD16 global evapotranspiration datasets allows for the detection of seasonal cycles and the differentiation of water loss magnitudes across the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pantanal, and steppes biomes in the Brazilian portion of the basin.
• Land use changes in the basin, particularly the expansion of mechanized agriculture and the conversion of natural lands, act as drivers of deforestation and significantly impact hydrological regimes and the provision of water cycle services.

APA

Meirelles, M. S. P., Ferraz, R., Arvor, D., Dubreuil, V., Jonathan, M., & BÉGUÉ, A. (n.d.). SYNTHESIS REPORT Land Use Change Monitoring and Dynamics in the La Plata River Basin Using Remote Sensing – Methodological Developments. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_Report_IDRC_Meirelles.pdf

Chicago

Meirelles, Margareth Simões Penello, Rodrigo Ferraz, Damien Arvor, Vincent Dubreuil, Milton Jonathan, and Agnès BÉGUÉ. SYNTHESIS REPORT Land Use Change Monitoring and Dynamics in the La Plata River Basin Using Remote Sensing – Methodological Developments. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_Report_IDRC_Meirelles.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Meirelles |first1=Margareth Simões Penello |last2=Ferraz |first2=Rodrigo |last3=Arvor |first3=Damien |last4=Dubreuil |first4=Vincent |last5=Jonathan |first5=Milton |last6=BÉGUÉ |first6=Agnès |title=SYNTHESIS REPORT Land Use Change Monitoring and Dynamics in the La Plata River Basin Using Remote Sensing – Methodological Developments |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_Report_IDRC_Meirelles.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{meirellesndsynthesis, author = {Meirelles, Margareth Simões Penello and Ferraz, Rodrigo and Arvor, Damien and Dubreuil, Vincent and Jonathan, Milton and BÉGUÉ, Agnès}, title = {{SYNTHESIS REPORT Land Use Change Monitoring and Dynamics in the La Plata River Basin Using Remote Sensing – Methodological Developments}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_Report_IDRC_Meirelles.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }