Publicações

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to encourage graduate students to facilitate a participatory mapping activity with high school students, to have their voices heard in the disaster risk reduction (DRR) agenda. Design/methodology/approach: A participatory mapping, youth-led session, was conducted with 22 high school students, where they had to identify flood and landslide-prone areas. Then, they were asked to propose and plan DRR measures in collaboration with local partners in São Luiz do Paraitinga, Brazil. Findings: The participatory method engaged the graduate students and the high school students in the DRR debate, allowing them to map hazards and vulnerabilities, and to discuss five incubation projects for enhancing DRR in the city. Originality/value: This research highlights the importance of involving young people in DRR formulation and planning to build local capacities in younger generations. The outputs were shared with the local civil defense and a local non-governmental organization (NGO), who suggested recommendations to improve the five incubation projects.

Purpose The study aims to identify the gaps and the potentialities of citizen-generated data in four axes of warning system: (1) risk knowledge, (2) flood forecasting and monitoring, (3) risk communication and (4) flood risk governance. Design/methodology/approach Research inputs for this work were gathered during an international virtual dialogue that engaged 40 public servants, practitioners, academics and policymakers from Brazilian and British hazard and risk monitoring agencies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings The common challenges identified were lack of local data, data integration systems, data visualisation tools and lack of communication between flood agencies. Originality/value This work instigates an interdisciplinary cross-country collaboration and knowledge exchange, focused on tools, methods and policies used in the Brazil and the UK in an attempt to develop trans-disciplinary innovative ideas and initiatives for informing and enhancing flood risk governance.

Soil moisture information is essential to monitoring of the intensity of droughts,the start of the rainy season, planting dates and early warnings of yield losses.We assess spatial and temporal trends of drought over the Brazilian semiaridregion by combining soil moisture observations from 360 stations, root zone soilmoisture from a leading land surface model, and a vegetation health index fromremote sensing. The soil moisture dataset was obtained from the network of sta-tions maintained by the National Center of Monitoring and Early Warning ofNatural Disasters (Cemaden), in Brazil. Soil water content at 10 to 35 cm depth,for the period 19792018, was obtained from running the JULES land surfacemodel (the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator). The modelled soil moisturewas correlated with measurements in the common period of 20152018, result-ing in an average correlation coefficient of 0.48 across the domain. The standard-izedsoilmoistureanomaly(SMA)wascalculatedforthelong-termmodelledsoilmoisture and revealed strong negative values during well-known drought peri-ods in the region, especially during El-Niño years. The performance of SMA inidentifying droughts during the first 2 months of the raining and cropping sea-son was similar to the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), commonly usedfor drought assessment: 1214 events were identified by both indices. Finally, thetemporal relationship between both SMA and SPI with the Vegetation HealthIndex (VHI) was assessed using the cross-wavelet transform. The results indi-cated lagged correlations of 1 to 1.5 months in the annual scale, suggesting thatnegative trends in SMA and SPI can be an early warning to yield losses during the growing season. Public policies on drought assessment should consider thecombination of multiple drought indices, including soil moisture anomaly. 

Este artigo apresenta uma análise sobre o processo formativo de um grupo de atores interessados na temática da Gestão dos Recursos Hídricos no estado de São Paulo, em especial, na Bacia do Paraíba do Sul. Tem como conceitos orientadores a pedagogia da práxise a ciência cidadã. A metodologia é qualitativa e fundamenta-se emdiferentes estratégias de pesquisa de campo. O intuito maior, além de analisar o processo formativo, éverificar a alteração da percepção ambiental dos atores participantes de umcurso. Conclui-se que a experiência formativa oferecida pelo curso, fundada em metodologias participativas, produz efeitos positivos no engajamento dos atores envolvidos nos territórios de interesse. ABSTRACT: This article presents an analysis of the learningprocess of a group of actors interested in the theme of Water Resources Management in the State of São Paulo, especially in the Paraíba do Sul Basin. Its guiding concepts are the pedagogy of praxis and citizen science. The methodology is qualitative and isbased on different field research strategies. The main purpose, in addition to analyzing the learningprocess, was to verify the change in the environmental perception ofthe actors participating in the course. The conclusion isthat the educationalexperience offered by the course, based on participatory methodologies, produces positive effects in the engagement of actors involved in the territories of interest. 

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes strongly affect local hydrology and sediment yields. The current study focused on a basin in the Brazilian Amazon and had the following three objectives: (1) to perform an effective diagnosis of flow and sediment yield, (2) to evaluate the impacts of LULC changes over the last 40 years on the hydro-sedimentological variables, and (3) to investigate the impacts of the possible trends or breaking points in the flow, surface runoff, and sediment yield series. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model validation showed that the simulated results were consistent with the data measured in the dynamic reproduction of flow seasonality. Furthermore, changes in LULC altered surface runoff, sediment yield, and flow according to the Mann-Kendall and Pettitt non-parametric tests. It was also observed that the sub-basins in which pastureland is predominant are more susceptible to increased surface runoff and sediment yield. According to trend and homogeneity tests, these sub-basins had break points in the time series of these variables. On the other hand, in the sub-basins whose land cover is predominantly forest, the time series is homogeneous and trendless. The current study highlighted the impacts that 40 years of LULC changes in an Amazonian basin had on hydro-sedimentological variables, which, in turn, can play an important role in changing the hydrological cycle, consequently these changes can also impact diverse human activities in the region, such as agribusiness, livestock, energy production, food security, and public water supply. Thus, it is concluded that the SWAT model is a good estimator of hydro-sedimentological processes in Amazonian basins and can be used by decision makers in the management of water and environmental resources.

Lightning ignition is the major cause of natural wildfires in several regions worldwide. Determining if wildfires in remote uncontrolled areas result from natural lightning as opposed to anthropic action is a relevant and yet-unsolved challenge for large regions of the planet, with scientific and management implications ranging from environmental conservation to mitigation of climate-related emissions of gases and aerosols. Brazil is the country with one of the highest occurrences of lightning (50 to 100 million/year) and which is also subject to numerous and vast wildfires (up to ∼600 × 103 km2/year) affecting all its biomes. To quantify natural fires we combined cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning and CG dry-lightning (CGDL) detected by a ground network, with fire pixels mapped by satellite remote sensing (AQUA, S-NPP and NOAA-20) over ∼1,8 × 106 km2 in Central Brazil, between 2015 to 2019. Lightning ignition candidates were selected based on the distance between fires and lightning in time and space. The selected cases were investigated according to annual and monthly distributions in space and time, to local weather at the time of occurrence and, electrical characteristics related to ignition. Space-time distributions of CG lightning, CGDL and of active fires were also analyzed. Results showed that the CGDLs pattern is not different from that of the overall CG lightning, with both presenting similar kernel density, polarity and peak current. The lightning candidates indicated predominance of negative polarity and peak current frequency below 20 kA. In this range, average values for weather conditions for CG lightning matched to fires (CGDL matched to fires) had: precipitation 6 mm (< 1 mm), relative humidity 57 % (48 %), and temperature ∼30°C and wind speed of ∼ 2 m.s−1 for both. The results showed that satellite detection of active fires is a useful tool to identify lightning-induced wildfires.

Amazonian Indigenous Lands (ILs) are human-environment systems facing a multitude of environmental threats. Yet, the resulting vulnerability of these systems are to date unknown. We adopt the theoretical vulnerability framework of the IPCC to assess the environmental vulnerability of Brazilian Amazon ILs for two periods (20012010 and 20112019) and overall (20012019). Vulnerability is deemed a function of exposure (EX), sensitivity (SE) and adaptive capacity (AC) of a system to threats. Sensitivity (threats within IL) and exposure (threats in IL’s buffer zones) indicators are changes in forest cover, economic activities, and road access, quantified using data of deforestation, forest degradation, land-use, fire, roads and mining. Adaptive capacity indicators represent Indigenous self-organization, education and access to knowledge, land ownership, external incomes, and institutional arrangement. We find a concentration of ILs with high vulnerability in the Arc of Deforestation and South, and advancing in Pará and Roraima states. A strong relationship (Spearman r = 0.79) between EX and SE indicates the strong pressure exerted by external processes. An increase in EX (73.9% of the ILs) and in SE (64.8% of the ILs) in 20112019 compared to 20012010 signals a worrying rise in vulnerability recently. We advise the adoption of policies by the State, such as combating illegal activities, and strengthening National Policy for Environmental and Territorial Management of ILs. Herein, our vulnerability quantification can prioritize help to certain ILs, and the understanding of the contribution of the underlying dimensions can direct these policies, possibly according to the vulnerability profile of each IL.

This paper describes a methodology used to evaluate pyranometers and reference cell performance in relation to solar overirradiance (OIR) events. By definition, these events are characterized when global horizontal irradiance (GHI) exceeds the extraterrestrial horizontal irradiance (ETH) due to cloud enhancement (CE) effects (e.g. scattering, reflection, cloud lense augmentation). Evaluation metrics are proposed to assess relevant features of the events such as uncertainty, event identification, and response time. The metrics were validated with high standard radiometers deployed at the Solar Energy Research Laboratory Fotovoltaica/UFSC in Florianópolis, Brazil. The results were checked against solar radiometers’ specifications, and sensors were analyzed according to their performances. An ISO outdoor calibration, as well as a system uncertainty analysis and data response time evaluation, were performed, to assure results reliability. In addition, two extreme overirradiance (EOIR) events were evaluated separately, and seasonal occurrence of the energy fraction of overirradiance events was assessed and discussed.

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 26.519 ka) was marked by atmospheric cooling, in contrast to the current warming climate, which will probably continue in the coming decades, according to climate models projections. The LGM to pre-industrial transition provides an opportunity to test the vegetation response to a very large temperature change that can then be applied to project pre-industrial to end-of-century changes. In order to explore the changes in Brazilian biomes due to temperature change, we projected potential vegetation for both past and future scenarios. We compared biome projections with a compilation of 149 published LGM reconstructions of climate and vegetation within Brazil and adjacent areas. In addition, we evaluated the particular effects that changes in precipitation, temperature and CO2 had on vegetation by performing sensitivity experiments. Our results suggest that biomes in the western and central portions of the Amazon forest remained largely unchanged during the LGM mainly due to negative temperature anomalies, while a decrease in past precipitation was responsible for the shift from tropical evergreen forest to tropical seasonal forest in the eastern portion of the Amazon. These results are consistent with proxy reconstructions. LGM model projections and proxy reconstructions suggest expansion of grassland in the southern Brazilian highlands. Under future warming scenarios, biome changes are mostly forced by decreasing precipitation and increasing temperatures, which counteract potential biomass gain from the positive CO2 fertilization effect. Under future warming, our simulations show an expansion of Savanna/Cerrado and a reduction of tropical seasonal forest and Caatinga, with potential large impacts over biodiversity and regional climate.

Cocoa is a plant with origins in northwestern South America with high relevance in the global economy. Evidence indicates that cocoa is sensitive to a dry climate, under which crop production is reduced. Projections for future climate change scenarios suggest a warmer and drier climate in the Amazon basin. In this paper, we quantify the potential effects in cocoa production due to its edaphoclimatic suitability changes to the Brazilian Amazon biome and account for regional differences in planning occupation territories. We modeled the suitability of cocoas geographical distribution using an ensemble of 10 correlative models that were run in the biomod2 library and projected to two future climate scenarios (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5) by 2050. Combining information on climate and soil suitability and installed infrastructure in the macro-regions of the Brazilian Amazon. We defined a zoning system to indicate how cocoa production may respond to climate change according to the current and future suitability model. Our results suggest that a reduction in precipitation and an increase in temperature may promote a reduction in the suitability of cocoa production in the Brazilian Amazon biome. In addition of the areas suitable for cocoa plantation, we found a 37.05% and 73.15% decrease in the areas suitable for intensification and expansion zones under RCP 4.5 and 8.5, respectively, compared with the current scenario. We conclude that there may be a need to expand land to cocoa production in the future, or else it will be necessary to plant a cocoa variety resistant to new climatic conditions. Besides, we recommend procedures to combat illegal deforestation to prevent the most critical climate change scenarios from occurring. © 2022 Igawa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Aquaculture is currently one of the fastest growing food production systems globally, and shrimp is considered one of the most highly valued products. Our study area is the lower Jaguaribe River sub-basin (LJRSB), located in the northeastern part of Ceará in Brazil. The aquaculture activity in this area began in the early 1990s and is currently one of the largest shrimp producers in Brazil. This study generated a spatial-temporal analysis of vegetation index and land use and land cover (LULC) using remote sensing images from Landsat satellites processed using geographic information systems (GIS). The findings showed an increase in the water bodies class where shrimp farms are found. In addition, to help us discuss the results, data from the Global Surface Water Explorer was also used to understand this change throughout intra and interannual water variability. Besides shrimp farms intensification, agricultural areas in the LJRSB also increased, mainly in the irrigated perimeter lands (IPLs), causing a loss in the Caatinga native vegetation. In summary, over recent years, significant changes have been noticeable in the LJRSB coastal region, caused by an increase in shrimp farms mainly located on the Jaguaribe River margins, destroying the native riparian forest.

White light during mycelial growth influences high conidial stress tolerance of the insect-pathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii, but little is known if low- or high-white light irradiances induce different stress tolerances. The fungus was grown either in the dark using two culture media: on minimal medium (Czapek medium without sucrose = MM) or on potato dextrose agar (PDA) or PDA medium under five different continuous white light irradiances. The stress tolerances of conidia produced on all treatments were evaluated by conidial germination on PDA supplemented with KCl for osmotic stress or on PDA supplemented with menadione for oxidative stress. Conidia produced on MM in the dark were more tolerant to osmotic and oxidative stress than conidia produced on PDA in the dark or under the light. For osmotic stress, growth under the lower to higher irradiances produced conidia with similar tolerances but more tolerant than conidia produced in the dark. For oxidative stress, conidia produced under the white light irradiances were generally more tolerant to menadione than conidia produced in the dark. Moreover, conidia produced in the dark germinated at the same speed when incubated in the dark or under lower irradiance treatment. However, at higher irradiance, conidial germination was delayed compared to germination in the dark, which germinated faster. Therefore, growth under light from low to high irradiances induces similar conidial higher stress tolerances; however, higher white light irradiances cause a delay in germination speed.