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GIS and Spatial Decision Support System for Environmental Degradation Monitoring
Simões, Margareth 1,2 , Coutinho, Heitor L. C. 2 ; Vieira, Hermani 1 ; Santos, Ubiratan 3
1UERJ, Rio de Janeiro State University, Dept. of Computer Engineering, Rua São Francisco Xavier,
524, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
2Embrapa Solos, Rua Jardim Botânico 1024, 22460-000, Rio
de Janeiro – RJ, Brazil, Tel: 0-55-21-274.4999, Fax: 0-55-21-274.5291,
Email: maggie@eng.uerj.br
3UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, CARTOGEO, Caixa Postal 2324, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Abstract
Agricultural activities have expanded dramatically in Brazil during the last 30 years, causing
significant damage to the original Cerrado ecosystem and threatening the Pantanal biome. The
consequences are a significant damage to the original ecosystem with the consequent degradation of
the riparian vegetation and widespread erosion, with river siltation and degradation of the natural
resources, risking the sustainability of anthropic activities in the Pantanal lowlands of Mato Grosso do
Sul, Brazil.
This work aims to describes the conception of the development of a Spatial Decision Support
System (SDSS) to assist land use management of the Upper Taquari Basin, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil
being a useful tool to environmental decision makers.
In order to attain that goal, the erosion processes and water contamination by agrochemicals is
being monitored in three selected sub-basins. The information gathered feed a GIS system, which,
along with Remote Sensing data sources, monitor land use, changes and the erosion process
throughout the years. This system is part of the SDSS which applies Artificial Intelligence Techniques
to, among others: provide information on the cost/benefit of different mitigation options; rank the
municipalities with regards to environmental impact of agricultural activities and rank areas in terms
of priority for interventions.
This work is part of a multi-institutional project involving: Embrapa Soils Research Center
(Rio de Janeiro), Embrapa Pantanal (Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul), UCB –Catholic University of
Brasilia (Brasilia), COINTA – Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Upper Taquari
Municipalities (Mato Grosso do Sul), UCDB – Dom Bosco Catholic University (Mato Grosso do Sul),
UERJ – Rio de Janeiro State University - Dept. of Systems Engineering (Rio de Janeiro), PUC Rio –
Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro – Dep. of Eletrical Engineering and Embrapa Beef Cattle (Mato
Grosso do Sul).
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