“…Different types of data were used: yearly rainfall data (2000 to 2009), determined by the ten-day accumulated rainfall data of 16 meteorological stations, from September to October, from the Fundação Estadual de Pesquisa Agropecuária, which were used to refine the period of initial sowing; shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) data, to generate a slope map with a 90-m spatial resolution, according to Rabus et al (2003), in order to exclude areas improper for mechanization (slope >15%); a soil map (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, 1986) in a 1:250,000 scale, to exclude the unfavorable soils for soybean cultivation (all Planosol and Plinthosol; BT1, BT2, BT3, BT4, BT5, BT6, BT7, and BT9 sub-classes of Chernosol; Ge, GHS2, GS1, GS2, GHe1, GHe2, and GHe3 sub-classes of Gleisol; Re1, Re2, Re6, Re7, Re9, Ae1, and Ae2 sub-classes of Neosol; and V1 and V3 sub-classes of Vertisol); annual soybean agricultural statistics, in state and municipality level The Evi data were chosen due to their potential ability to reduce atmospheric and soil background effects (Huete et al, 2002;Justice et al, 2002). The Evi is part of the MOD13Q1-V005 product, which comprises the best radiometric and geometric pixels selected within a 16-day period.…”