Environmental sensitivity map of Solimões River basin using SAR images and fuzzy modeling

The Amazon is a region characterized by ecologically complex environments subject to constant and rapid seasonal changes. In Central Amazonia, the seasonal differences in water level caused by flooding changes the landscape and require the production of one sensitivity maps for each season: dry, full ebb and flow. Potential applications of the the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system on board the JERS-1 satellite for environmental protection in Amazonia include understanding and management of flood hazards. This presents a methodology to compute a multitemporal environmental sensitivity to oil spill map in regional scale, according to the change in flooding conditions. The differences of image patterns from low flow to high flow derives the classes of change, which represent the types of landscape change within half hydrological cycle. A fuzzy system is implemented within a geographic information system (GIS) to map oil-sensitive environments for environmental risk assessment along the Solimões River oil transportation route, Western Amazonia, Brazil.