Data last updated: 2019-May-28

This page collects deforestation alert data published by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and Imazon, a Brazilian NGO. INPE’s system is call DETER, while Imazon’s is called SAD.

As explained here, month-to-month deforestation is highly variable. Short-term, alert-based deforestation detection systems do not penetrate cloud cover, so during the rainy season — from roughly November to April — estimates are notoriously unreliable when compared to the same month a year earlier. Furthermore, most forest clearing in the Amazon occurs when it is dry. So if the dry season is early, deforestation may increase earlier than normal. For these reasons, the most accurate deforestation comparisons are made year-on-year. For Brazil, the deforestation “year” ends July 31: the peak of the dry season when the largest extent of forest is typically visible via satellite.

Short-term data isn’t useless though — it can provide insights on trends, especially over longer periods of time. Generally, comparing 12 consecutive months of alert data will provide a pretty good indication of deforestation relative to other years. Therefore the charts below include monthly data as well as the 12-month moving average (Trailing Twelve Months = “TTM”).

Monthly deforestation alert data for the Brazilian Amazon

Month DETER DETER TTM SAD SAD TTM
4/1/08 1124 766 156 476
5/1/08 1096 755 294 467
6/1/08 871 711 612 476
7/1/08 324 653 276 419
8/1/08 757 700 102 373
9/1/08 587 705 321 307
10/1/08 541 713 102 271
11/1/08 355 668 61 188
12/1/08 177 612 50 186
1/1/09 222 577 51 184
2/1/09 143 529 62 183
3/1/09 18 518 57 179
4/1/09 37 427 121 176
5/1/09 124 346 157 164
6/1/09 578 322 150 126
7/1/09 836 365 532 147
8/1/09 498 343 273 161
9/1/09 400 327 216 153
10/1/09 176 297 194 160
11/1/09 72 273 74 161
12/1/09 282 16 159
1/1/10 23 264 63 160
2/1/10 185 268 88 162
3/1/10 52 271 76 163
4/1/10 52 272 65 159
5/1/10 110 271 96 154
6/1/10 244 241 172 155
7/1/10 485 209 155 124
8/1/10 265 188 210 119
9/1/10 448 192 170 115
10/1/10 389 211 153 112
11/1/10 121 216 65 111
12/1/10 21 199 175 124
1/1/11 36 201 83 126
2/1/11 1 185 63 124
3/1/11 116 191 46 121
4/1/11 477 226 298 141
5/1/11 268 239 165 146
6/1/11 313 245 99 140
7/1/11 225 223 93 135
8/1/11 163 215 240 138
9/1/11 254 199 170 138
10/1/11 386 198 102 133
11/1/11 133 199 16 129
12/1/11 75 204 40 118
1/1/12 22 203 33 114
2/1/12 307 228 107 117
3/1/12 60 223 53 118
4/1/12 233 203 71 99
5/1/12 99 189 43 89
6/1/12 108 172 35 84
7/1/12 214 171 140 88
8/1/12 522 201 232 87
9/1/12 283 203 431 109
10/1/12 277 194 487 141
11/1/12 205 200 55 144
12/1/12 131 205 82 147
1/1/13 9 204 35 148
2/1/13 270 201 45 142
3/1/13 28 198 80 145
4/1/13 147 191 140 150
5/1/13 465 222 84 154
6/1/13 210 230 184 166
7/1/13 217 230 152 167
8/1/13 289 211 185 163
9/1/13 443 224 103 136
10/1/13 155 214 43 99
11/1/13 108 206 37 98
12/1/13 93 203 56 95
1/1/14 75 208 107 101
2/1/14 119 196 11 99
3/1/14 53 198 20 94
4/1/14 166 199 100 90
5/1/14 271 183 185 99
6/1/14 535 210 843 154
7/1/14 729 253 355 170
8/1/14 890 303 437 191
9/1/14 736 328 402 216
10/1/14 298 339 244 233
11/1/14 77 337 195 246
12/1/14 85 336 95 250
1/1/15 129 341 289 265
2/1/15 61 336 42 267
3/1/15 155 344 58 270
4/1/15 334 358 137 274
5/1/15 588 385 389 291
6/1/15 855 411 494 261
7/1/15 914 427 542 277
8/1/15 654 407 415 275
9/1/15 504 388 229 261
10/1/15 377 394 230 260
11/1/15 240 408 99 252
12/1/15 89 408 175 258
1/1/16 63 403 52 239
2/1/16 534 442 0 235
3/1/16 123 439 213 248
4/1/16 436 448 183 252
5/1/16 784 464 474 259
6/1/16 1431 512 972 299
7/1/16 738 498 539 298
8/1/16 1023 498 582 312
9/1/16 688 513 387 326
10/1/16 741 529 202 323
11/1/16 366 534 37 318
12/1/16 17 512 0 303
1/1/17 58 498 42 303
2/1/17 101 496 0 303
3/1/17 74 477 97 293
4/1/17 125 452 96 286
5/1/17 348 437 365 277
6/1/17 589 406 537 240
7/1/17 455 382 544 241
8/1/17 289 321 184 208
9/1/17 393 296 241 195
10/1/17 456 273 261 200
11/1/17 359 272 56 202
12/1/17 289 295 184 217
1/1/18 179 305 70 220
2/1/18 151 310 214 237
3/1/18 358 333 287 253
4/1/18 508 366 217 263
5/1/18 538 382 634 286
6/1/18 505 373 1169 338
7/1/18 610 386 778 358
8/1/18 520 405 545 388
9/1/18 723 433 444 405
10/1/18 491 436 187 399
11/1/18 265 428 287 418
12/1/18 66 409 246 423
1/1/19 140 406 108 426
2/1/19 131 405 93 416
3/1/19 242 395 67 398
4/1/19 238 372 195 396

 

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