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This study uses a combination of Landsat series data (Multispectral Scanner or MSS, Thematic Mapper or TM and Enhanced Thematic Mapper or ETM+) to map land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) from 1975 to 2001. It extends the land change record to 2008 using Chinese–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS)-2 and CBERS-2B data on a multi-scene level. It also establishes a methodology to correct for systematic distortion inherent in CBERS imagery without the loss of information present in Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery post-2003. Image analysis focuses on a 63 000 km² strip of land along a main highway and railroad in southeastern Bolivia named the Corredor Bioceánico. This strip of land is one of the most important agriculturally driven deforestation hotspots in Latin America. It is also located in one of the most poorly understood forest biomes in the world in terms of LULCC – Southern Hemisphere seasonally dry tropical forests – which have very high conservation values globally. Over the 33-year study period, approximately 12 000 km² of forest was lost among the three sub-regions – which is an area nearly the size of Connecticut. Evidence suggests that agriculture-driven deforestation is pushing into sensitive areas threatening globally important ecosystems such as those in the Chaco, Chiquitano and Pantanal as well as noteworthy protected areas. The results also show that imagery of CBERS-2 and CBERS-2B can help to fill the imagery gap created by Landsat ETM's Scan Line Corrector (SLC) failure in 2003. They can help to extend the land change record forward in time.
