GEOPROCESSING AS A SUPPORT TOOL THE MANAGEMENT OF FOREST ROADS PAVEMENT

Abstract

This purpose of this research was to apply geoprocessing techniques for data acquisition, preparation, georeference, and display for assessing quality standards of forest roads and mapping critical points of the timber transportation, which contribute to support the development of a pavement preventive and ordinary maintenance program. First, the road pavement integrity and condition were assessed by conducting a continuous survey on road defects and estimating the NPRCI (Non-Paved Road Condition Index). The georeferenced dataset, the sampling unit’s allocation, and the road network spatial location were conducted using satellite (CBERS-II) and SRTM imagery and GPS field data. The road identification and the assessment of pavement condition were based on a detailed field survey, which revealed the road pavement conditions and derived useful supporting information regarding the most critical parts of the forest road and its defect severity, also pointing out practical measures to fix them, estimating costs for the required road maintenance. The Geoprocessing techniques, GPS, remote sensing dataset, and GIS showed to be efficient tools for identifying, mapping, and quantifying this natural phenomenon in the region being studied and may support the definition of maintenance program of non-paved forest roads. Results showed that the GIS could integrate the dataset containing standards of forest road ordinary operation and maintenance to a geographic database, which subsequently allowed to georeference, manipulate, and display this information on thematic maps.