The management and ecological monitoring of national parks and other protected areas requires a detailed description of the vegetation distribution patterns. This paper aims to produce a vegetation map for the Serra dos Órgãos National Park (PARNASO). This conservation unit is localized in Atlantic Forest within a topographic variation from sea level to 2,263 meters. The vegetation classification based on the ASTER satellite data, high-resolution aerial photographs and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The DEM indicates vegetation structures in landscape with high spatial variability because it correlates with environmental factors, such as microclimate, moisture, soil and geomorphological processes. Decision tree classifier was used to extract information of DEM and remote sensing data. Seven classes were identified: Agropecuária (1.29% of total Park area), Campos de Altitude (24.27%), Floresta Ombrófila Densa Alto-Montana (37.47%), Floresta Ombrófila Densa Montana (21.54%), Floresta Ombrófila Densa Sub-Montana (5.22%), Floresta Secundária (4.13%), and no vegetation area (6.08%). The three highest physiognomies were associated with altitude higher than 1,000 m and represented 55.5% of the total area. The construction of decision trees combining the DEM and remote sensing information can improve the result on the forest tropical distribution.
remote sensing; digital image processing; decision tree; digital elevation model
