This article discusses the use of satellite imaging as a means to support and map out the historical expansion of the borders of São Paulo State between the discovery of Brazil and its independence. This tool was employed in Cartography of a history, an exhibition staged at Museu Paulista/USP in 2005. The images were generated by Modis, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission and Landsat-5, and georeferenced with the SPRING image processor as well as georectified mosaics made available by Nasa. They were then checked against a valuable set of cartographic data collected by the researchers working under the Jaime Cortesão History Chair at USP. The said set included information pertaining to the boundaries established by the Treaty of Tordesillas, with its distortions; the Map of the Courts; the captaincies; as well as the trails of bandeiras (exploring expeditions), monções (expeditions made up and down the rivers of the São Paulo and Minas Gerais captaincies), and tropeirismos (cattle driving routes). In other words, all the pioneering actions that helped to consolidate the territory of São Paulo State and to shape much of Brazil's spatial identity were traced in the images. The researchers also looked into the myth of Brazil as an island and into the purported connection between the Amazon and Paraná-Prata river basins based on their geomorphologic attributes as shown on the orbital images. The results were compiled into an 800-megabyte database and displayed at Museu Paulista. This paper describes the methodological procedures used to generate and analyze the images, and provides a summary of the research findings.
Remote sensing; Historical cartography; Museu Paulista; Expansion of São Paulo State; Portuguese America
