SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF BIOMASS POTENTIAL IN EUCALYPTUS FORESTS USING GIS: A CASE STUDY FROM BOTUCATU, SP, BRAZIL

The search for renewable energy combined with the socio-economic importance of Eucalyptus cultivation has opened new avenues for Eucalyptus application beyond the traditional uses. In this study, the Geographical Information System (GIS) was applied to evaluate the distribution of Eucalyptus stands in Botucatu SP, Brazil. The GIS also assisted in the calculation of the potential biomass with satellite images. Satellite images were captured by the Land Operational Imager (OLI), installed aboard the Landsat-8 satellite and made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) / Earth Resources Observation & Science Center (EROS). Results from this study showed that the area covered by the Eucalyptus forest in Botucatu corresponds to a maximum of 197.04 tons per hectare of biomass, representing more than 10% of its area. Therefore, it is possible to use remote sensing images to expand the capacity to generate information on forest registries. These results may be very useful to companies that use the raw materials from these planted forests.