REMOTE SENSING APPLIED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SERRANA REGION PRODUCING APPLE IN SANTA CATARINA STATE

Abstract

In Brazil, apple orchards occupies 38.2 thousand ha of planted area. However, these data are collected subjectively, through questionnaires and interviews with producers and cooperatives. Thus, the objective was to carry out, using spectral data from the Sentinel-2 satellite and remote sensing techniques, the mapping of apple orchards in the mountain region of Santa Catarina, with a view to their spatialization and quantification, updating the planted area using data goals. The São Joaquim region has 33% of the cultivated área, and approximately 70% of the cultivation. Regarding the height and slope of the orchards, 70% are between 1,100 and 1,400 m, and approximately 43% are located in undulating relief, with a slope of 8 to 20%. In relation to the planting slope, it was found that there is a tendency to concentrate on the west slopes of the land. The mountainous region of Santa Catarina has favorable climatic characteristics for apple production, emerging as a territory of great production, significantly increasing its participation in
national production, driven by the constant growth in the number of producers and cultivated area.