Remote Sensing of the Pampa

The grasslands cover more than 30% of the Earth's surface and have their importance increasingly recognized. In addition to hosting numerous ecosystem services and playing a millenary role in livestock, recently their vocation in atmospheric carbon sequestration has been unveiled. Remote sensing is a fundamental technology for the knowledge of the extent, conservation and biodiversity of the grasslands, being used for decades for its mapping and monitoring. These maps and monitoring proposals support management activities and definition of conservation priorities, in addition to filling an historical lack of initiatives and research focused on rural or non-forest vegetation in Brazil. The Pampa biome is part of the Temperate Grasslands and covers part of Rio Grande do Sul, Argentina and Uruguay. Its conversion to other covers, mainly crops and planted forests, occurs with increasing speed, which motivated us to organize this session and group studies with remote sensing for the Pampa, in order to spread current knowledge, inpire constructive initiatives and mitigate the degradation of the biome.