Characterization and spectral monitoring of coffee lands in Brazil.

In Brazil, coffee production has great economic and social importance. Despite this fact, there is still a shortage of information regarding its spatial distribution, crop management and environment. The aim of this study was to carry out spectral monitoring of coffee lands and to characterize their environments using geotechnologies. Coffee fields with contiguous areas over 0.01 km2 within a 488.5 km2 region in the south of Minas Gerais state were selected for the study. Spectral data from the sensors OLI/Landsat 8 and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission from 2014 to 2015 were obtained, as well as information on production areas, surface temperature, vegetation indexes, altitude and slope, were gathered and analyzed. The results indicate that there is great variation in the NDVI and NDWI values, with means ranging from 0.21 to 0.91 (NDVI) and 0.108 to 0.543 (NDWI). The altitude ranged from 803 to 1150 m, and the surface temperature from 20.9°C to 27.6°C. The altitude and the surface temperature distribution patterns were correlated with the vegetation indexes. The slope classes were very homogeneous, predominantly with declivities between 8 to 20%, characterized as wavy relief. This study made possible the characterization and monitoring of coffee lands and its results may be instrumental in decision-making processes related to coffee management.