Landsat-based assessment of the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of the pasture areas in rural settlements in the Cerrado biome, Brazil

Pastures make up a large part of the agricultural land in Brazil and in the world. Specifically, this research aimed to understand how the pasture areas in the rural settlements in the State of Goiás (core region of the Cerrado biome) evolved, from their creation to present. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative analyzes were carried out, based on the annual mapping of the Brazilian pasturelands (within the scope of the MapBiomas initiative), as well as on satellite images from the Landsat series, obtained and processed through the Google Earth Engine platform. The results showed that after the creation of the rural settlements there was an increase in pasture area by ∼11%, as well as a qualitative improvement, with a reduction in degraded pastures of about 10%. It was also observed that approximately 70% of the rural settlements managed to improve their pastures, particularly the oldest ones. Our results corroborated the potential of remote sensing images and techniques, which allowed us to analyze the evolution of pastures over time. However, additional field studies are necessary for a better understanding of the management practices adopted and their impacts on pasture conditions.