{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T13:14:21Z","timestamp":1774444461244,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,7,9]],"date-time":"2016-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1468022400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Discovery Grant and UVic"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Discovery Grant and UVic"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003593","name":"Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00edfico e Tecnol\u00f3gico","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["237930\/2012-9 and 150835\/2015-9"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["237930\/2012-9 and 150835\/2015-9"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003593","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001807","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2011\/23594-8 and 2008\/07537-1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2011\/23594-8 and 2008\/07537-1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001807","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>An innovative remote sensing approach that combines land-use change and water quality information is proposed in order to investigate if Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) area extension is associated with water siltation in the Tapaj\u00f3s River Basin (Brazil), containing the largest small-scale gold mining district in the world. Taking advantage of a 40-year period of the multi-satellite imagery archive, the objective of this paper is to build a normalized time-series in order to evaluate the influence of temporal mining expansion on the water siltation data (TSS, Total Suspended Solids concentration) derived from previous research. The methodological approach was set to deliver a full characterization of the ASGM expansion from its initial stages in the early 1970s to the present. First, based on IRS\/LISSIII images acquired in 2012, the historical Landsat image database (1973\u20132001) was corrected for radiometric and atmospheric effects using dark vegetation as reference to create a normalized time-series. Next, a complete update of the mining areas distribution in 2012 derived from the TerraClass Project (an official land-use classification for the Brazilian Amazon) was conducted having IRS\/LISSIII as the base map with the support of auxiliary data and vector editing. Once the ASGM in 2012 was quantified (261.7 km2) and validated with photos, a reverse classification of ASGM in 2001 (171.7 km2), 1993 (166.3 km2), 1984 (47.5 km2), and 1973 (15.4 km2) with the use of Landsat archives was applied. This procedure relies on the assumption that ASGM changes in the land cover are severe and remain detectable from satellite sensors for decades. The mining expansion area over time was then combined with the (TSS) data retrieved from the same atmospherically corrected satellite imagery based on the literature. In terms of gold mining expansion and water siltation effects, four main periods of ASGM activities were identified in the study area: (i) 1958\u20131977, first occurrence of mining activities and low water impacts; (ii) 1978\u20131993, introduction of low-budget mechanization associated with very high gold prices resulting in large mining area expansion and high water siltation levels; (iii) 1994\u20132003, general recession of ASGM activities and exhaustion of easy-access gold deposits, resulting in decreased TSS; (iv) 2004 to present, intensification of ASGM encouraged by high gold prices, resulting in an increase of TSS.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs8070579","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,7,11]],"date-time":"2016-07-11T09:47:19Z","timestamp":1468230439000},"page":"579","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":85,"title":["Distribution of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Tapaj\u00f3s River Basin (Brazilian Amazon) over the Past 40 Years and Relationship with Water Siltation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8061-0076","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felipe","family":"Lobo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Spectral Lab, Department of Geography, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada"},{"name":"Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Av. dos Astronautas 1758, S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos, SP 12227-010, Brazil"}]},{"given":"Maycira","family":"Costa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Spectral Lab, Department of Geography, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1223-9276","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evlyn","family":"Novo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Av. dos Astronautas 1758, S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 dos Campos, SP 12227-010, Brazil"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4438-761X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kevin","family":"Telmer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Spectral Lab, Department of Geography, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada"},{"name":"Artisanal Gold Council, 101-732 Cormorant St., Victoria, BC V8W 4A5, Canada"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,7,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Veiga, M.M. 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