Carta de sensibilidade para o meio físico do município de Campos Gerais-MG: uma proposta metodológica

Abstract

Water erosion is a serious problem on a global scale, which causes several damages to the population and the environment on a daily basis. Due to this, the identification of areas with greater environmental sensitivity would enable decision-making, with mitigating actions to prevent future degradation. This research aims to propose studies of sensitivity of the physical environment, from the analysis of Environmental Fragility products (ROSS, 1994) through the empirical analysis integrated to the LS Factor (L= slope length, S= slope), having as spatial clipping the municipality of Campos Gerais-MG. To support these methodologies, the AHP - Hierarchical Process Analysis, developed by Saaty (1980) was used, where maps were generated using the Quantum Gis software version 3.6 from obtaining and crossing data related to soil, relief, cover vegetation and land use for the acquisition of potential and emerging fragilities. The topographic map in the scale 1:50,000 of the city of Campos Gerais provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), SRTM radar data made available free of charge by the United States Geological Survey -USGS and images from the Cbers 4A satellite (available by the National Institute for Space Research). Among the results achieved, we highlight the preparation of maps of sensitivity to the physical environment, maps of environmental fragility, potential fragility and land use. It was found that the municipality has 5 classes of environmental sensitivity, where most of its territorial cut is located in the lower class, that is, places less susceptible to erosion. The areas with greater environmental sensitivity to the physical environment are located in the central-north region of the municipality, also covering the east and west regions. The southern part has areas that are not susceptible to erosion, with low and very low environmental sensitivity. The letters generated from the integration of the LS factor proved to be efficient in what was proposed, since all the information obtained through them was validated in loco, with the accomplishment of fieldwork. The work stands out as an important tool for the management of the physical environment, in addition to helping a possible watershed management plan in the municipality.