Spatial-Temporal Changes in Land Cover, Soil Properties and Carbon Stocks in Rio de Janeiro

The purpose of this study was to evaluate spatial-temporal dynamics of land cover of the Campo Grande and Santa Cruz Administration Regions, both in Rio de Janeiro city. LANDSAT5-TM images from 1984, 1994 and 1999 were used to create land cover maps. A Geographical Information System was used for integrating information into a cohesive and easy to consult cartographic base and database. Matrices were generated by applying Markov’s Chains, which allow to describe, model and predict transitions of the land cover. This study examined the relationship between land use change, soil orders and carbon stock in the top 10 cm. It was possible to observe the land cover dynamics, with the conversion of agriculture, anthropogenic area and exposed soil in urban areas, especially in the period 1994 – 1999. Using secondary data, from soil survey reports, and combine it with the land cover maps in the temporal series, it was possible to observe a potentiality of this approach in soil properties-landscape modeling. The main finding of this study was that land use change is a dynamic process, and the use of soil properties based on secondary data – soil survey reports – can helps environmental planning, but the accuracy depends of the quality and the spatial data distribution. So, its stress that is important to planning the soils surveys for the good data exploitation for future projects.