This study aimed to identify the homogeneous zones, the regimes, and the local trends for annual and seasonal rainfall in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. We collected seasonal and annual data on monthly rainfall from 45 weather stations in Pernambuco from 1987 to 2019. The data were organized yearly to identify the homogeneous rainfall zones based on Euclidean distance and Ward's coefficient. The mean annual value of each zone was calculated and the data were subjected to descriptive statistics analysis, analysis of rainfall regime with the Rain Anomaly Index, and time trend analysis using the Mann-Kendall method. The results show three homogeneous rainfall zones: 1 (semiarid), 2 (transition), and 3 (coastal), with mean values for annual rainfall of 562, 1032, and 1812 mm year-1, respectively. The precipitation regime showed the predominance of dry years as zones 1, 2, and 3 exhibited dry periods of 18, 17, and 15 years, respectively. Time trend analysis revealed a decrease in annual rainfall of 48.7 mm for Zone 1, 13.2 mm for Zone 2, and 204.4 mm for Zone 3, without statistical significance. Seasonal analysis demonstrated that Zone 1 presented a negative trend in the spring and a positive trend in Zone 2 in the summer, indicating changes in the rain seasonality.

With the growing demand for efficient solutions to face the challenges posed by population growth and climate change, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) emerges as a promising solution for monitoring biophysical and physiological parameters in forage crops due to their ability to collect high-frequency and high-resolution data. This review addresses the main applications of UAVs in monitoring forage crop characteristics, in addition to evaluating advanced data processing techniques, including machine learning, to optimize the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production systems. In this paper, the Scopus and Web of Science databases were used to identify the applications of UAVs in forage assessment. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, the search resulted in 590 articles, of which 463 were filtered for duplicates and 238 were selected after screening. An analysis of the data revealed an annual growth rate of 35.50% in the production of articles, evidencing the growing interest in the theme. In addition to 1086 authors, 93 journals and 4740 citations were reviewed. Finally, our results contribute to the scientific community by consolidating information on the use of UAVs in precision farming, offering a solid basis for future research and practical applications.

O sensoriamento remoto pode ser utilizado no monitoramento ambiental de parâmetros biofísicos micrometeorológicos nas regiões semiáridas do Brasil. Objetivou-se monitorar o risco da degradação ambiental através da detecção de mudanças da superfície no semiárido por sensoriamento remoto. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida através do processamento digital de imagens de satélite para Serra Talhada, Pernambuco. Foram coletados dados de superfície para subsidiar o algoritmo do balanço de energia da superfície terrestre (SEBAL) na estimativa do albedo e temperatura da superfície e o índice de vegetação ajustado as condições do solo (SAVI). Além disso, se desenvolveu mapas temáticos do grau do risco de degradação. Os mapas da degradação foram submetidos a avaliação estatística de qualidade temática, por matriz de confusão. O SAVI apresentou-se sensível à chuva, tendo na estação chuvosa os maiores valores e na estação seca os menores, período que o albedo e a temperatura apresentaram valores elevados, indicando vulnerabilidade à degradação das áreas com pouca vegetação e solo exposto. Os mapas do risco de degradação destacaram características semelhantes aos padrões de respostas do SAVI, albedo e temperatura. O monitoramento espaço-temporal dos parâmetros biofísicos e do risco de degradação permitirá o planejamento e gestão dos recursos hídricos e naturais da região semiárida. Spatial-Temporal Monitoring Detection of Changes in Caatinga Vegetation by Remote Sensing in the Brazilian Semiarid A B S T R A C TRemote sensing can be used for environmental monitoring of micrometeorological biophysical parameters in the semiarid regions of Brazil. The present investigation aimed to monitor the risk of environmental degradation by detecting surface changes in the semiarid by means of remote sensing. The research was developed through digital processing of satellite images for Serra Talhada, Pernambuco, Brazil. Surface data were collected to support the Surface Energy Balance algorithm (SEBAL) to estimate the albedo and the surface temperatures as well as the soil condition adjusted to the vegetation index (SAVI). Furthermore, thematic maps were developed for the levels of risk of degradation and statistical evaluation was performed on the thematic quality by means of confounding matrix. The SAVI was sensitive to precipitation, displaying the highest values for the rainy season and the lowest for the dry season, for which the albedo and the surface temperature presented higher values, thus indicating vulnerability to degradation in areas of scarce vegetation and exposed soil. The risk of degradation maps highlighted characteristics similar to SAVI response patterns, albedo and surface temperature. The spatiotemporal monitoring of biophysical parameters and the risk of degradation will enable both the planning and the management of water and natural resources in the semiarid region.Keywords: Agrometeorology, Caatinga, Environmental Degradation, Deforestation; Environmental Impacts.

Northeast Brazil (NEB), particularly its semiarid region, represents an area highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change, including severe droughts, and intense anthropogenic activities. These stresses may be accelerating environmental degradation and desertification of soil in NEB. The main aim of this study was to gain geospatial insights into the biophysical parameters of surface energy balance and actual evapotranspiration on a multi-temporal scale, aiming to detect and analyze the spectral behavioral patterns of areas vulnerable to degradation processes, based on thematic maps at the surface, for NEB and mainly the semiarid region of NEB from 2000 to 2019. Geospatial data from 8-day MODIS sensor products were used, such as surface reflectance (Terra/MOD09A1 and Aqua/MYD09A1), surface temperature (Terra/MOD11A2 and Aqua/MYD11A2), and actual evapotranspiration (Terra/MOD16A2 and Aqua/MYD16A2), version 6. Therefore, in this study, pixel-to-pixel values were processed by calculating the average pixel statistics for each year. From the reflectance product, digital processing of the surface albedo and spectral vegetation indices was also carried out, using computational programming scripts and machine learning algorithms developed via the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The study also presents a seasonal analysis of these components and their relationships over 20 years. Through vegetation indices and statistical correlations, a new predictive model of actual evapotranspiration was developed. The quantitative and spatiotemporal spectral patterns of the parameters were assessed through descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency and dispersion, and statistical error analyses and correlation indices. Thematic maps highlighted the pixel-to-pixel results, with patterns of high temperature distribution mainly in the central and northeastern part of NEB and the semiarid region of NEB, highlighting the formation of persistent heat islands over time. Meanwhile, in these areas, the maps of actual evapotranspiration showed a drastic reduction due to the lesser availability of energy. Over time, the semiarid region of NEB presented areas with little and/or no vegetation cover, which were highly well-defined between the years 2012 and 2019, confirming that these areas are extremely vulnerable to degradation and desertification processes due to significant loss of vegetative and water resilience. The components of energy balance were highly interconnected to climatological and environmental conditions, showing the severe results of drought and accentuation of the water deficit in NEB, presenting a greater condition of aridity in the semiarid region of NEB over time.