**1. Introduction**

Sugarcane (SC) (*Saccharum officinarum*) and coffee (CO) (*Coffea arabica* L.) crops are expanding in the northeastern side of the São Paulo (SP) state, Southeast Brazil. The first one is an annual crop, while the second one is a perennial crop, but both are replacing the natural vegetation (NV), composed by a mixture of Savannah and Atlantic Coastal Forest species. However,

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

sugarcane is also replacing the coffee areas [1], as consequences of both sugar and alcohol explorations, but also by stimulating renewable energy use [2].

The negative effects of the sugarcane expansion could be more serious when compared with those from the fossil fuel exploration, regarding greenhouse gas emissions [3, 4]. Aiming bioenergy production, a crop has to grow fast presenting high yield, but its energy output must exceed fossil fuel energy input. Considering these issues, sugarcane is a good candidate for energy crop [5]. However, its expansion could affect the large-scale energy balance further influencing the carbon cycle [6–8]. Anderson-Teixeira et al. [9] have reported energy balance alterations because of sugarcane expansion.

Under land-use and climate change conditions, the use of tools for quantifying the large-scale energy balance components is relevant for supporting policy planning and decision-makings about the water resources. The difficulties of measuring and analyzing these components throughout only field measurements highlighted the importance of coupling remote sensing and weather data, which have been successfully done in commercial crops under different environmental conditions [3, 10].

(27 ± 34 mm month−1); the annual value is 1517 ± 274 mm yr.−1. The mean air temperatures in

**Figure 1.** Location of the study region inside the northeastern side of the São Paulo state, Southeast Brazil, together with

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The Use of MODIS Images to Quantify the Energy Balance in Different Agroecosystems in Brazil

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The sugarcane phases may be divided into four [14]: Phase 1: Germination and establishment, from January to February, are influenced by soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil aeration, denoting activation and subsequent sprouting of the vegetative bud. Phase 2: Tillering is influenced by variety, solar radiation, air temperature, soil moisture, and fertilization, starting from around 40 days after the initiation of the growing cycle and may last up to 120 days (February–April). Phase 3: Grand growth is from 120 days after the starting of the growing cycle lasting up to 270 days in a 12-month crop (May–September). Both high soil moisture and solar radiation levels favor better cane elongation during this phase. Phase 4: Ripening and maturation are characterized by slower growth activity, lasting for about 3 months starting from 270 to 360 days after the growing cycle initiation (September–December). High solar radiation levels and low soil moisture conditions are favorable during this last phase [15].

The coffee crop concentrates at the right side of the study area (see **Figure 1**). The region presents also a rainy season and a dry winter somewhat similar to the sugarcane areas; however, due to higher altitudes, between 700 and 1100 m, the long-term annual air temperature ranges

The coffee crop in Brazil, differently from sugarcane, which completes its average growing cycle in 12 months, takes 2 years for its all crop stages. Six coffee phases are considered, starting in September of each year [17, 18]: Phase 1: Vegetation with bud formation, during 7 months, is normally from September to March. Phase 2: Vegetation is between April and August, when the transformation of the vegetative to reproductive buds occurs, when at the end of this phase, from July to August, the plants enter in relative dormancy stage. Phase 3: Flowering and grain expansion are normally from September to December. Phase 4: Grain formation is normally from January to March, when water stress can be detrimental to the grain development. Phase 5: Grain maturation. Moderate water stress can benefit the grains. Phase 6: Senescence and death of the non-primary productive branches generally occur in July and August. In this last stage, the self-pruning process represented by senescence occurs,

when the productive branches wither and die, limiting plant development.

are lower, from 18 to 20°C [16].

January and July are, respectively, 24 and 19°C, and the annual average is 22°C.

the cropland masks and the agrometeorological stations used for the weather data gridding processes.

Several algorithms have been developed for acquiring the large-scale energy balance components. The Simple Algorithm for Evapotranspiration Retrieving (SAFER) is applied in this chapter in sugarcane and coffee crops comparing the results with those for natural vegetation. The algorithm was developed and validated in Brazil based on simultaneous field radiation and energy balance data from experiments and remote sensing under strongly water and vegetation contrasting conditions [11, 12].

Having cropland masks available, the energy balance components are analyzed in these mixed agroecosystems by the coupling MODIS images and weather data. The results may subsidize policies for a rational sugarcane and coffee water managements, being the analyses very useful under the actual scenario of water competitions between these crops and other sectors in the Southeast Brazil, as consequences of both climate and land use changes.
