MapBiomas Alerta is not a new alert system, but rather an effort to enhance the usability and effectiveness of alerts generated by existing systems. The MapBiomas Alerta initiative provides, on a public and free platform, alerts of native vegetation loss from various detection sources, such as DETER/INPE, SADs, GLAD/GFW, etc. These alerts are verified, validated, and spatially crossed with territorial and governmental data (SICAR/SFB, SIGEF/INCRA, embargoes/IBAMA, UCs/ICMBio, etc.). Details about the validation and publication methodology of the alerts are available at this link: https://alerta.mapbiomas.org/metodo-mapbiomas-alerta/  

Generally, existing systems identify alerts through large-scale automated analysis of medium-resolution satellite images (10 to 80 meters resolution). These images have a weekly or bi-weekly revisit frequency and allow for the identification of deforestation alerts, but without many options for analysis at the rural property level, considering the spatial resolution and low acquisition frequency of the images. 

In MapBiomas Alerta, deforestation alerts produced by various monitoring initiatives are gathered, validated, and refined using daily images with 3.7-meter resolution. Each alert is evaluated by trained analysts, who select high-resolution before-and-after images of the deforestation, producing an effect similar to a photo of a vehicle's license plate in traffic violation reports.

All alerts processed and published by MapBiomas Alerta undergo a rigorous verification process consisting of three stages: pre-validation, validation, and audit.

• Pre-validation - involves two steps. The first is an automated process that eliminates all alerts overlapping with reforestation and agricultural areas in the annual MapBiomas maps or those already detected in previous surveys. Alerts that pass this stage are visually assessed using monthly high-resolution Planet mosaics (3-meter resolution images), and the best pair of daily satellite images representing the period before and after deforestation is selected. At this point, false positive alerts are discarded, with the corresponding reason for rejection recorded (silviculture, agriculture, seasonality, etc.). 
• Validation - occurs during the sampling process for classification and refinement of the deforested polygon in high-resolution images. The technician can discard false positives, with the corresponding reason for rejection recorded (silviculture, agriculture, seasonality, etc.).   
• Audit - Each refined alert undergoes an audit process conducted by a technical supervisor for each biome. At this stage, the need for any adjustments before the final publication of the refined alerts is assessed."

Additional details about the validation and publication methodology of the alerts are available at this link: https://alerta.mapbiomas.org/metodo-mapbiomas-alerta/

The project utilizes daily images with a spatial resolution of 3.7 meters, acquired daily from the PlanetScope constellation, which comprises over 200 microsatellites.

The perimeter of the polygon is smoothed to reduce the number of sharp angles, and a generalization process is applied during refinement. This process can result in a variation of up to 5% in the calculated area, either increasing or decreasing it.

The operational phase aims to assess all deforestation alerts detected in the country from January 2019 onwards. Alerts prior to this period (October to December 2018) represent the pre-operational phase with a sample of alerts from that period and do not appear in the statistics or on the map (they only remain in the platform's database for consultation using their respective alert codes). The detection date is when the alert was generated by the providers (e.g., DETER, SAD, GLAD) and does not necessarily represent the time when the deforestation occurred. For example, deforestation detected in 2019 may have started or occurred in 2018. Current year data is always partial and subject to change due to the processing and publication time of the alerts. Monitor the progress of alert processing and publication here: https://plataforma.alerta.mapbiomas.org/alert_by_status

Validated alerts are published weekly on the MapBiomas Alerta platform, generally every Tuesday.

Pressure vectors are identified as the likely driving forces behind deforestation, including economic activities like agriculture and mining, as well as urban expansion and extreme weather events. Since 2021, the validation process has incorporated an analysis of these pressure vectors.

The Alert Report is an automatically generated document on the MapBiomas Alerta platform that aggregates technical information about the alert, allowing for direct and rapid analysis of the location, probable dates of deforestation, and relevant territorial/land crossings, such as rural properties (Environmental Registry of Rural Properties - CAR boundaries) and protected areas, among others. This document serves to streamline and facilitate analysis and decision-making by users of the MapBiomas Alerta platform. When crossed with a CAR property, it is possible to generate specific reports of the intersection with the alert and high-resolution images before and after deforestation, followed by complementary information, such as: 

• overlap of the deforestation alert with protected areas (Conservation Units and Indigenous Lands), settlements, Permanent Preservation Areas (APP), Legal Reserve (RL), springs, etc.;
• overlap of the alert with areas of Authorization for the Suppression of Native Vegetation, Embargoes and Forest Management Plan;
• history of land use and cover in MapBiomas over the last few years;
• methodology;
• data source.

MapBiomas Alerta only provides property codes from SICAR and INCRA. Due to data privacy laws, owner information like names and tax IDs are not publicly accessible on the platform or in SICAR.

The MapBiomas Alerta platform reports any validated loss of natural vegetation based on high-resolution satellite imagery. MapBiomas does not evaluate the legality, responsibility, and/or restrictions regarding the validated and published alerts on the MapBiomas Alerta platform. Therefore, users interested in using the information contained in deforestation reports, including financial institutions, are responsible for evaluating such information based on documents and information obtained from the parties involved or competent public agencies.

 MapBiomas is not responsible for the decisions made by these bodies and institutions based on the published alerts, as these contain objective and concrete data on the existence of deforestation (loss of native vegetation).

All material is free and open, available on the website https://plataforma.alerta.mapbiomas.org/

Yes. The platform allows access to alerts and reports in several ways. You can download alerts as (i) Shapefile (.shp); (ii) consolidated data per year, with CAR information, as an EXCEL spreadsheet; (iii) the reports are available in PDF files; (iv) there is a plugin that accesses alerts in QGIS; (v) and a public API is available that allows access to alerts, images and attributes, as a service (open service for registered users. Register here:

 https://plataforma.alerta.mapbiomas.org/sign-in ). 

Contact us via e-mail: suporte.alerta@mapbiomas.org.

MapBiomas data is public, open and free by simply referring the source following the format below.

"MapBiomas Alert Project - Validation and Refinement System for Deforestation Alerts with High-Resolution Images: [LINK] accessed on [date]"

If satellite imagery shows an area recovering from a fire, the alert is dismissed. However, if the vegetation is completely removed following a fire, indicating a more permanent loss, the alert is retained as a record of native vegetation loss.

No, the alerts published on the MapBiomas Alerta platform remain public and accessible with no expiration date.