Echavarria, Fernando R.

This thesis examines the quantification of tropical deforestation, the use of remote sensing techniques for its scientific measurement, and the many controversies surrounding the problem. Aerial photographs and Landsat-based planimetric maps were used to determine the conversion of montane rain forest in a 1,000 km$\sp2$ sector of Peru's Huallaga River Valley. Between 1963 and 1976, 244 km$\sp2$ of forest (approximately a quarter of the study area) were converted to agricultural and other land uses, an apparent deforestation rate of 19 km$\sp2$/yr or approximately 1,872 ha/yr. The method entailed the cutting and weighing of strips of Mylar overlays. Despite the photogrammetric limitations, the results demonstrate an economical and practical technique that is readily applicable to developing countries. The potential of other remote sensing systems and the application of change detection techniques such as digital image subtraction to monitor deforestation is detailed.