Automated Mapping of Permanent Preservation Areas on Hilltops

Abstract

Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs) on hilltops are among the many areas protected by the New Forest Code in Brazil. Mapping of these involves difficult interpretation and application of the Law, as well a complex task of translating it in map algebra. This paper aims to present, in detail, a methodological model for delimitation of PPAs on hilltops, according to the Brazilian new Forest Code (NFC, Law 12,651/2012). The model was developed in Model Builder for ArcGIS 10.2, and is able to map the PPAs in any digital terrain model. However, field validations are required to verify its efficiency. There is need for legal standardization of criteria that may cause subjectivity in delimitation. The organization of these data on a large scale is very important, as example, to the Rural Environmental Registry, which provides georeferencing of all rural properties and its protected areas in Brazil. MAPEAMENTO AUTOMATIZADO DE ÁREAS DE PRESERVAÇÃO PERMANENTE EM TOPO DE MORROSRESUMO: As Áreas de Preservação Permanente em topos de morros estão entre as diversas áeras protegidas pelo novo Código Florestal (NCF) brasileiro. O mapeamento das mesmas envolve dificuldades técnicas de interpretação da Lei, bem como a complexa tarefa de traduzi-la em álgebra de mapas. O presente trabalho apresenta, em detalhe, um modelo metodológico para delimitação de APPs em topos de morros, de acordo com o NCF (Lei 12.651/2012). O modelo foi construído em ambiente Model Builder para ArcGIS 10.2 e é capaz de mapear as APPs em qualquer modelo digital de terreno. No entanto, validações em campo são necessárias para verificar a eficiência do modelo. Também, é necessária a regulamentação de critérios que causam subjetividade na delimitação. A organização desses dados em larga escala é importante, por exemplo, para o Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR), que prevê o georreferenciamento de todas as propriedades rurais e suas áreas protegidas, no Brasil.

Mapeamento das Áreas de Preservação Permanente (APP) no Topo de Morros de acordo com os Dispositivos Legais do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Permanent Preservation Area (PPA) on Top of Hills Mapping Based on Legal Devices of Rio de Janeiro State)

“…The Forest Code of 2012 does not set up a methodology to estimate the terrain's slope (Oliveira & Filho, 2016). Considering there are many automatic methods to estimate the relief slope by GIS techniques, for this study, it was used the slope estimation algorithm purposed by Valeriano (2002) which considers all directions around a cell of the DEM.…”

“…Finally, PPA on top of hills are delimited considering the 2/3 high in each hill. Then, according to Oliveira & Filho (2016) e) Height of the hills estimation -First, each top must be associated to its respective saddle point, which requires to identify the nearest saddle point. The height calculation is based on the top elevation minus the saddle point elevation.…”

“…The modifications in the delimitation of PPA introduced by the Forest Code of 2012 induced the reduction of preserved areas by the modification of the devices from the 1965 Code that regarded the parameters, definitions and boundaries of the PPA on top of hills. Those changes promoted great area reduction and almost eliminates this kind of permanent preservation (Soares-Filho et al,2014;Silva et al, 2015;Tambosi et al, 2015;Oliveira & Filho, 2016;. Soares-Filho et al (2014) applied the new parameters for PPA delimitation on top of hill.…”

Atlantic Forest scenarios under the parameters of forestry laws

“…Hilltops with hills at least 100 m high and with most slopes above 25% in the upper third of the hillsides in relation to a base, defined by the horizontal plane, which is determined by adjacent plain or water surfaces or, in wavy relief, the height of the nearest saddle point, using the method of Oliveira;Fernandes-Filho (2016).…”

“…Furthermore, the New Forest Code created the Rural Environmental Registry (RER) to integrate environmental information of rural properties (Soares-Filho et al, 2014), which uses satellite images for delimitation of the PPAs and property boundaries (Francelino;Oliveira;Fernandes-Filho, 2016).…”