DETER an alert system of National Institute for Space Research, confirmed 498km 2 of deforestation in Legal Amazon by shallow cut or progressive degradation in August. 301 km2 out of this total, are from Pará state and 105km2 of Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Amazonas had 51km2 and 22km2 respectively, while other states presented rates lower than 7km2 in August, month which the occurrence of clouds in the Amazon enabled 83% of the area observation.
DETER’s information are sent to IBAMA every week. The system points both shallow cut areas, when the satellites detect the complete deforestation of the native forest, and areas classified as progressive degradation, that reveal deforestation process over the place.
Due to the variable clouds coverage from one month to another and, also due to the satellites resolution, DETER’s data do not represent an exact figure of the Amazon monthly deforestation. By the same reasons, INPE’s technicians do not recommend the comparison among data of different months and years. In the map below, areas covered by clouds and the points where alerts of DETER system have been recorded in August:
Assessement
An illustration of DETER’s data, shows that 90% of the alerts from August were confirmed as deforestation. In that month, 73% were classified as shallow cut and only 13% as degraded forest of high intensity. The others indicated moderate or light intensity degradation.
For more information please visit www.obt.inpe.br/deter
Source: INPE