The geoprocessing in the elaboration of thematic maps of freight transportation: The “Triangulo Mineiro e Alto do Paranaíba/MG” Mesoregion

This article intends, as its objective, to present and evaluate the use of geoprocessing techniques applied to a governmental data base for the elaboration of thematic maps of freight transportation in a given spatial section. For so, it has conducted an empirical- experimental research, in which was utilized the “Triangulo Mineiro e Alto Paranaíba/MG” mesoregion as being the chosen spatial section. In this way, we evaluated that geoprocessing, conceived as a group of techniques worked in a GIS (Geographical Information System) ambiance, provided excellent instruments for the creation of illustrativeand representative maps of the thematic in the chosen area. However, the governmental data base approached, satisfactorily, only the railway mode, since the highway mode, just represented by genericforms of its infrastructure and traffic, has not the necessary detailed level of data to represent, properly, the highway freight flow in this spatial section