Abstract
This work proposes a methodological approach to redistribute population data obtained from polygonal census tracts into population density surfaces (grids) based on a cell space database. The methodology was first developed for the municipality of Marabá, Pará state, in the Brazilian Amazon. We used a dasymetric method to eliminate areas of environmental restriction to human presence; then integrated environmental data indicative of human presence to generate a potential surface of population occurrence; and finally, census population count data were redistributed into cells. The methodology was subsequently adapted for 13 municipalities of the Sustainable Forests District (SFD) of BR-163, generating population distribution surfaces for 2000 and 2007. The evolution of the resident population over the SFD-BR163 showed spatial patterns compatible with the occupation process described in the literature and verified by fieldwork. To be applied over other areas, the proposed methodology must be adapted with local parameters but in this way, population density surfaces can be useful as an additional data source to study population and environment relationships.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Census tract is the territorial unit for census operations, defined by IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística), with physical limits identified in contiguous areas and respecting the political and administrative division of Brazil.
According to IBGE (2000), districts in Brazil are administrative units of municipalities. Apart from the municipal seat, every district seat has the status of village (“vila”).
References
Alves, D. (1999). An analysis of the geographical patterns of deforestation in Brazilian Amazônia in the 1991–1996 period. In Paper presented at the 48th annual conference of the center for Latin American studies—Patterns and processes of land use and forest change in the Amazon, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Alves, D. S. (2002). Space time dynamics of deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23, 2903–2908.
Alves, P. A., Amaral, S., Escada, M. I. S., & Monteiro, A. M. V. (2010). Explorando as relações entre a dinâmica demográfica, estrutura econômica e no uso e cobertura da terra no sul do Pará: lições para o Distrito Florestal Sustentável da BR-163. Geografia, 35(1), 165–182.
Amaral, S. (2003). Geoinformação para estudos demográficos: Representação Espacial de Dados de População na Amazônia Brasileira. Ph.D. thesis, Escola Politécnica da USP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo.
Amaral, S., Câmara, G., Monteiro, A. M. V., Quintanilha, J. A., & Elvidge, C. D. (2005). Estimating population and energy consumption in Brazilian Amazônia using DMSP night-time satellite data. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 29(2), 179–195.
An, P., Moon, W. M., & Rencz, A. (1991). Application of fuzzy set theory for integration of geological, geophysical and remote sensing data. Canadian Journal of Exploration Geophysics, 27, 1–11.
ANA (Brazilian National Agency of Water). (2007). Hidrography spatial data. From http://hidroweb.ana.gov.br/.
Bajat, B., Hengl, T., Kilibarda, M., & Krunic, N. (2011). Mapping population change index in Southern Serbia (1961–2027) as a function of environmental factors. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 35, 35–44.
Balk, D., Gorokhovich, Y., & Levy, M. (2005). Estimation of coastal populations exposed to the 26 December 2004 tsunami (Vol. Working Paper). Center for International Earth Science Information Network. New York: Columbia University.
Becker, B. K. (1998). A Especificidade do Urbano na Amazônia: Desafios para políticas Públicas Consequentes. Estudo elaborado para a Secretaria de Coordenação dos Assuntos da Amazônia Legal. Rio de Janeiro: Ministério do Meio Ambiente.
Becker, B. K. (2004). Amazônia—Geopolítica na Virada do III Milênio (Vol. 1). Rio de Janeiro: Editora Garamond.
Bhaduri, B., Bright, E., Coleman, P., & Dobson, J. E. L. (2002). Locating people is what matters. Geoinformatics, 5(2), 34–37.
Burrough, P. A., & McDonnell, R. A. (1998). Principles of geographic information systems. Oxford: University Press.
Camara, G. (2009). Land use change in Amazonia: Institutional analysis and modelling at multiple temporal and spatial scales (LUA/IAM). FAPESP Research Program on Global Climate Change (FRPGCC).
Camara, G., Aguiar, A. P. D., Escada, M. I. S., Amaral, S., Carneiro, T., Monteiro, A. M. V., et al. (2005). Amazonian deforestation models. Science, 307(18), 1043–1044.
Coelho, A. (2008). Modelagem de dinâmica do uso da terra e cobertura vegetal em área de expansão de grãos na região oeste do Pará. Belém, PA: Universidade Federal do Pará.
Costa, W. M. D. (1997). O Estado e as Políticas Territoriais no Brasil (7a ed.). Ed. Contexto.
Couclelis, H. (1985). Cellular worlds: A framework for modelling micro-macro dynamics. Environment and Planning A, 17(1), 585–596.
Couclelis, H. (1991). Requirements for planning-relevant GIS: A spatial perspective. Papers in Regional Science, 70(1), 9–19.
Couclelis, H. (1997). From cellular automata to urban models: New principles for model development and implementation. Environment and Planning B, 24(1), 165–174.
Coudreau, H. (1977). Viagem ao Tapajós. São Paulo, SP: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo.
Dale, V. H., O’Neill, R. V., Southworth, F., & Pedlowski, M. (1994). Modeling effects of land management in the Brazilian Amazonian settlement of Rondonia. Conservation Biology, 8(1), 196–206.
De Reynal, V., Hebette, J., Muchagata, M. G., & Topall, O. (1995). Agriculturas familiares e desenvolvimento em frente pioneira amazônica. LASAT-CAT/GRET/UAG.
DeMers, M. N. (1999). Fundamentals of geographic information systems (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Dobson, J. E., Bright, E. A., Coleman, P. R., Duree, R. C., & Worley, B. A. (2000). LandScan: A global population database for estimating populations at risk. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 66(7), 849–857.
DOU (Diário Oficial da União). (2004). PORTARIA N° 316, DE 30 DE JUNHO DE 2004 (ISSN: 1677-7042, Seção 1, p. 14).
Ehrlich, P. R. (1968). The population bomb. New York: Ballantine Books.
Eicher, C., & Brewer, C. (2001). Dasymetric mapping and areal interpolation: Implementation and evaluation. Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 28, 125–138.
Farr, T.G., Rosen, P.A., Caro, E., Crippen, R., Duren, R., Hensley, S., Kobrick, M., Paller, M., Rodriguez, E., Roth, L., Seal, D., Shaffer, S., Shimada, J., Umland, J., Werner, M., Oskin, M., Burbank, D., & Alsdorf, D. (2007). The shuttle radar topography mission. Reviews of Geophysics, 45(2).
Fearnside, P. (2005). Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: History, rates and consequences. Conservation Biology, 19(3), 680–688.
Fisher, P. F., & Langford, M. (1995). Modelling the errors in areal interpolation between zonal systems by Monte Carlo simulation. Environment and Planning A, 27, 211–224.
Frohn, R. C., McGwire, K. C., Dales, V. H., & Estes, J. E. (1996). Using satellite remote sensing to evaluate a socio-economic and ecological model of deforestation in Rondonia, Brazil. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 17, 3233–3255.
Furtado, C. (2004). Formação econômica do Brasil. São Paulo, SP: Companhia das Letras.
Gallego, F. J. (2010). A population density grid of the European Union. Population and Environment, 31, 460–473.
Gallego, J., & Peedell, S. (2001). Using CORINE land cover to map population density. In Eurostat, DG Agriculture, DG Environment, Joint Research Center, European Environment Agency (Ed.), Towards agri-environmental indicators: Integrating statistical and administrative data with land cover information, Topic report 6/2001 (pp. 94–105). Copenhagen: European Environment Agency.
Geist, H. J., & Lambin, E. F. (2001). What drives tropical deforestation? A meta-analysis of proximate and underlying causes of deforestation based on subnational case study evidence. LUCC report series no. 4. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: LUCC International Project Office.
Godfrey, B. J., & Browder, J. O. (1996). Disarticulated urbanization in the Brazilian Amazon. The Geographical Review, 85(3), 441–445.
Goodchild, M. F., Anselin, L., & Deichmann, U. (1993). A framework for the areal interpolation of socioeconomic data. Environment and Planning A, 25, 383–397.
Gregory, I. N. (2002). The accuracy of areal interpolation techniques: Standardizing nineteenth and twentieth century census data to allow long-term comparisons. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 26, 293–314.
Harvey, F. (2008). A primer of GIS: Fundamental geographic and cartographic concepts. New York: The Guilford Press.
Hay, S. I., Noor, A. M., Nelson, A., & Tatem, A. J. (2005). The accuracy of human population maps for public health application. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 10(10), 1073–1086.
Hogan, D. J. (1989). População e Meio Ambiente. Textos NEPO, 16, 86. Campinas: Núcleo de Estudos Populacionais—NEPO/UNICAMP.
Hogan, D. J. (2000). A relação entre população e ambiente: desafios para a demografia. In H. Torres & H. Costa (Eds.), População e Meio Ambiente. Debates e Desafios (pp. 21–52). São Paulo: Editora SENAC.
Hogan, D. J. (2001). Demographic dynamics and environmental change in Brazil. Ambiente e Sociedade, Ano IV(9), 1–30.
Hogan, D. J. (2007). População e Meio Ambiente: A emergência de um novo campo de estudos. In D. J. Hogan (Ed.), Dinâmica populacional e mudança ambiental: cenários para o desenvolvimento brasileiro (pp. 13–58). Campinas, SP, BR: Núcleo de Estudos de População-NEPO/Unicamp.
IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources). (2010). Pará state communities—Spatial data. From http://siscom.ibama.gov.br/shapes.
IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). (2007). Spatial data. From http://www.ibge.gov.br.
IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística). (2000). Censo Demográfico—2000. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística.
IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística). (2010). Censo Demográfico 2010. From http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/censo2010/default_sinopse.shtm.
INPE (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais). (2009). Monitoramento da floresta amazônica por satélite, Projeto PRODES 2008–2010. From http://www.obt.inpe.br/prodes/.
Langford, M. (2003). Refining methods for dasymetric mapping. In V. Mesev (Ed.), Remotely sensed cities (pp. 137–156). London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
Langford, M. (2007). Rapid facilitation of dasymetric-based population interpolation by means of raster pixel maps. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 31, 19–32.
Laurance, W., Albernaz, A. K. M., Schroth, G., Fearnside, P. M., Bergen, S., Venticinque, E. M., et al. (2002). Predictors of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Biogeography, 29, 737–748.
Leite, C., Costa, M. H., Lima, C. A. A. S., & Ribeiro, G. C. S. (2011). Historical reconstruction of land use in the Brazilian Amazon (1940–1995). Journal of Land Use Science, 6(1), 32–52.
Linard, C., Gilbert, M., & Tatem, A. J. (2011). Assessing the use of global land cover data for guiding large area population distribution modelling. Geo Journal, 76(5), 525–538. doi:10.1007/s10708-010-9364-8.
Liverman, D., Moran, E. F., Rindfuss, R., & Stern, P. C. (1988). People and pixel: Linking remote sensing and social science. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Luizão, F. J. (2008). Cenários para a Amazônia: Clima, Biodiversidade e Uso da Terra. FINEP process N°: 2166/07.
Machado, L. O. (1999). Urbanização e Mercado de trabalho na Amazônia Brasileira. Cadernos IPPUR, 13(1), 109–138.
Maynard-Ford, M. C., Phillips, E. C., & Chirico, P. G. (2008). Mapping vulnerability to disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1900–2007. Reston, VA: US Geological Survey.
McCracken, S., Brondizio, E., Nelson, D., Moran, E. F., Siqueira, A., & Rodriguez-Pedraza, C. (1999). Remote sensing and GIS at farm property level: Demography and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 65(11), 1311–1320.
McCracken, S., Siqueira, A. D., Moran, E. F., & Brondizio, E. S. (2002). Land use patterns on an agricultural frontier in Brazil: Insights and examples from a demographic perspective. In C. H. Wood & R. Porro (Eds.), Deforestation and land use in the Amazon (pp. 162–217). Gainsville, FL: University Press of Florida.
McGranahan, G., Balk, D., & Anderson, B. (2007). The rising tide: Assessing the risks of climate change and human settlements in low elevation coastal zones. Environment and Urbanization, 19(1), 17–37.
McMichael, A. J. (1993). Planetary overload: Global environmental change and the health of the human species. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MDA. (2003). Projetos de Assentamentos, Gerência Operacional de Sistemas (GSO)—Web e SIPRA4.0. Marabá: Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário-MDA, Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária-INCRA, Superintendência Regional do Sul do Pará SR(27).
Meirelles, M. S. P. M. (1997). Análise integrada do ambiente através de geoprocessamento: uma proposta metodológica para elaboração de zoneamentos. Rio de Janeiro: UFRJ.
Mennis, J. (2003). Generating surface models of population using dasymetric mapping. Professional Geographer, 55(1), 31–42.
Mennis, J., & Hultgren, T. (2006). Intelligent dasymetric mapping and its application to areal interpolation. Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 33(3), 179–194.
MMA. (2006). Plano de Ação 2006–2007: Grupo de trabalho interinstitucional do Distrito Florestal da BR-163 (p. 27). Brasília: Ministério do Meio Ambiente.
MMA/SDS (Ministério do Meio Ambiente/Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Sistematização e Atualização de Informações). (2002). Projeto Cenários para a Amazônia Legal: Sistema de Consulta. Brasília, DF: Consórcio ZEE-Brasil—CDROM.
Moran, E. F., & Brondizio, E. (1998). Land-use change after deforestation in Amazonia. In D. Liverman, E. F. Moran, R. Rindfuss, & P. C. Stern (Eds.), People and pixel: Linking remote sensing and social science (pp. 94–120). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Moran, E. F., Brondizio, E., Mausel, P., & Wu, Y. (1994). Integrating Amazonian vegetation, land use, and satellite data. BioScience, 44, 329–338.
Moran, E. F., Siqueira, A., & Brondizio, E. (2003). Household demographic structure and its relationship to the Amazon Basin. In J. Fox, V. Mishra, R. Rindfuss, & S. Walsh (Eds.), People and environment: Approaches to linking household and community surveys to remote sensing and GIS (pp. 1–30). Boston: Kluwer.
Mrozinski, R., & Cromley, R. (1999). Singly- and doubly-constrained methods of areal interpolation for vector-based GIS. Transactions in GIS, 3, 285–301.
Nicholls, R. J., Tol, R. S. J., & Vafeidis, A. T. (2005). Global estimates of the impact of a collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Climatic Change, 91(1–2), 171–191.
Oliveira, M. C. C., Silva, W. R., & Santos, W. A. (2001). Estudo sobre o processo de migração de agricultores familiares na área rural da região de Marabá (p. 46). Brazil: LASAT—Laboratório Sócio-Agronômico do Tocantins.
Pandolfo, C. (1994). Amazônia brasileira: ocupação, desenvolvimento e perspectivas atuais e futuras. Belém, PA: CEJUP.
Reibel, M., & Bufalino, M. (2005). Street-weighted interpolation techniques for demographic count estimation in incompatible zone systems. Environment and Planning A, 37(1), 127–139.
Rennó, C. D., Nobre, A. D., Cuartas, L. A., Soares, J. V., Hodnett, M. G., Tomasella, J., et al. (2008). HAND, a new terrain descriptor using SRTM-DEM: Mapping terra-firme rainforest environments in Amazonia. Remote Sensing of Environment, 112, 3469–3481.
Rouse, J. W., Haas, R. H., Schell, J. A., & Deering, D. W. (1974). Monitoring vegetation systems in the Great Plains with ERTS. In Paper presented at the third earth resources technology satellite-1 symposium, Greenbelt.
Saaty, T. L. (1978). Exploring the interface between hierarchies, multiple objectives and fuzzy sets. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 1, 57–68.
Skole, D., & Tucker, C. (1993). Tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Amazon: Satellite data from 1978 to 1988. Science, 260, 1905–1910.
Sleeter, R. (2004). Dasymetric mapping techniques for the San Francisco Bay region, CA: Urban and regional information systems association. In Paper presented at the urban and regional information systems association, Reno, USA.
Terraview. (2010). Terraview. São José dos Campos, SP: INPE.
Tobler, W. R. (1979). Cellular geography. In S. Gale & G. Olsson (Eds.), Philosophy in geography (pp. 379–386). Dordrecht, Holland: Reidel.
Turner, A., & Openshaw, S. (2001). Disaggregative spatial interpolation. GISRUK, 2002. From http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.turner/publications/OpenshawTurner2001.html.
Walsh, S. J. (2010). Beyond people & pixels: Integrating people and environment in LULC studies. Panel contribution to the population-environment research network cyberseminar, “what are the remote sensing data needs of the population-environment research community?” from http://www.populationenvironmentresearch.org/seminars.jsp.
Wood, C. H., & Skole, D. (1998). Linking satellite, census, and survey data to study deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. In D. Liverman, E. F. Moran, R. Rindfuss, & P. C. Stern (Eds.), People and pixel: Linking remote sensing and social science (pp. 70–93). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Zadeh, L. A. (1988). Fuzzy logic. Computer, 21, 83–92.
Acknowledgments
This work was partially support by INPE—National Institute for Space Research, Cenários Project (Cenários para a Amazônia: uso da terra, biodiversidade e clima), and LUA/IAM Project—Land Use Change in Amazonia: Institutional Analysis and Modeling at multiple temporal and spatial scales.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Amaral, S., Gavlak, A.A., Escada, M.I.S. et al. Using remote sensing and census tract data to improve representation of population spatial distribution: case studies in the Brazilian Amazon. Popul Environ 34, 142–170 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-012-0168-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-012-0168-2