APPLICATION OF FREE DISTRIBUTION TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE STUDY OF THE RAMSAR “DELTA DEL PARANA”: EXPERIENCE OF THE SIG COURSE (UADER)

Abstract

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a course held in the fourth year of the Degree in Biology, and integrates disciplinary and methodological knowledge applied to environmental management using GIS and remote sensing. The course is theoretical and practical. The purpose of the subject is to promote training in the use of free software, techniques of geographic data processing and the generation of thematic information. In this context the objective of this study is to apply GIS techniques and remote sensing to the Ramsar “Delta del Parana” site and obtain thematic mapping of land cover generating material for further studies and land use since this agreement states that the sustainable use of resources can be established. We worked with free software Quantum GIS, SNAP. They were downloaded and imported into the program Q GIS free distribution data: SIG 250 (IGN), a vector boundary Ramsar site provided by teachers, and an image sensor SENTINEL 2 A (Date: 15/04/2016) downloaded from the European Space Agency (ESA). Image (band 1 to 8) was imported and trimmed, selecting a region that included the Ramsar site. By image analysis / K -means cluster analysis tool was classified with image with the following parameters: number of classes (10) iterations (30), input and output directories, format (geotiff), bands (8). A map of land cover classification, identifying land cover (water, forest, herbaceous vegetation and nude soil) was obtained as a result. The classification map was imported to QGIS and re-projected to the reference system (2007 POSGAR 5 stripe) generating a project where the layers were integrated. Maps were constructed incorporating the key elements with designer thematic mapping. From the pedagogical point of view, this method served our purpose because as students we use, analyze and learn GIS and Remote Sensing techniques and apply them to a regional case study.