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This paper aimed to analyze the influence of land use on the quality of water in Uberabinha river basin in the city of Uberlândia (MG). Using geoprocessing techniques and remote sensing data, land use, soil type, slope and hypsometric maps were drawn. Images were taken from the LANDSAT 8 satellite with 30 m space resolution, dated August 18, 2018, and from the Digital Elevation Model TOPODATA/SRTM together with the historical series data about water quality of the Uberabinha river, retrieved from Instituto Mineiro de Gestão das Águas (IGAM) and the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The data about water quality were organized according to the limits established by Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente (CONAMA) and international regulation. Uberabinha river basin is mostly used for agriculture. Concerning the water quality sampled from point PB 023, which was sixteen kilometers away from Uberlândia's sewage treatment plant (STP), the concentration of the variables totalscoliform index, Escherichia coli, sulfate, and phosphorus exceeded the limits set by laws between 2012 and 2018. Water quality data were collected on an annually basis, always in August. The land use influenced on the contamination of the basin water, especially, in the course that includes Uberlândia's urban area, due to a greater concentration of the parameters that indicate contamination of domestic and industrial water

Groundwater represents an important component in the supply of freshwater in several regions around the world. The contamination of these waters is a worrisome problem in the management of water resources. Since underground aquifers are vulnerable to contamination by human and industrial activities, including land use, the diagnosis associated with land use is critical for environmental management. The present study was carried out in the Uberaba sandstone formation, in which the vulnerability of the subterranean aquifers was determined using the DRASTIC method, by evaluating the interaction between the use and occupation of the land using a geographic information system. Thus, the risk of contamination of the underground aquifer was determined by evaluating the land use with the water quality and fertility. The tool applied in the present study proved effective for the diagnosis, management and action planning in the short and long term, with the intention of preserving these natural resources.

The watershed is a depression on the land’s surface, which is surrounded by higher land and drained by a river and its various tributaries. The streams are the morphologic elements of a basin that help draining the runoff reaching the Earth’s surface as rainfall, into a main water course. The present research had the objective of studying the hydrologic structuring of Paraopeba River Watershed located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The watershed was divided in 66 subbasins and geomorphological characteristics were calculated, namely those relevant for the assessment of hydrology and sediment transport. The materials and methods involved a geographic information system coupled with aerial photography interpretation methods that allowed a detailed geomorphologic analysis, irrespective of the large area of Paraopeba basin. The longitudinal profiles of water courses enabled to understand the three-dimensional development of stream networks while stream directions were linked to water-resources management. The results also exposed a relationship between landscape change and dynamic interactions between the physical and material environments triggered by natural and cultural forces. The actual shape of Paraopeba River watershed depends on the flowing streams and was strongly influenced by geologic heterogeneity. The singular features and processes that created a subbasin could be related with specific physical and environmental settings, that differed from place to place, whereas different landscape types were recognized as well as different landscape regions.

The rupture of a tailings dam causes several social, economic, and environmental impacts because people can die, the devastation caused by the debris and mud waves is expressive and the released substances may be toxic to the ecosystem and humans. There were two major dam failures in the Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the last decade. The first was in 2015 in the city of Mariana and the second was in 2019 in the municipality of Brumadinho. The extent of land use and cover changes derived from those collapses were an expression of their impacts. Thus, knowing the changes to land use and cover after these disasters is essential to help repair or mitigate environmental degradation. This study aimed to diagnose the changes to land cover that occurred after the failure of dam B1 in Brumadinho that affected the Ferro-Carvão stream watershed. In addition to the environmental objective, there was the intention of investigating the impact of image preparation, as well as the spatial and spectral resolution on the classification’s accuracy. To accomplish the goals, visible and near-infrared bands from Landsat (30 m), Sentinel-2 (10 m), and PlanetScope Dove (4.77 m) images collected between 2018 and 2021 were processed on the Google Earth Engine platform. The Pixel Reduction to Median tool was used to prepare the record of images, and then the random forest algorithm was used to detect the changes in land cover caused by the tailings dam failure under the different spatial and spectral resolutions and to provide the corresponding measures of accuracy. The results showed that the spatial resolution of the images affects the accuracy, but also that the selected algorithm and images were all capable of accurately classifying land use and cover in the Ferro-Carvão watershed and their changes over time. After the failure, mining/tailings areas increased in the impacted zone of the Ferro-Carvão stream, while native forest, pasture, and agricultural lands declined, exposing the environmental deterioration. The environment recovered in subsequent years (2020–2021) due to tailings removal and mobilization.

Human land use land cover changes (LULCCs) can cause impacts on watershed lands and on water resources. The regions with land use conflict suffer more intense erosion processes due to their high slope and drainage density. The study intends to evaluate scenarios with an absence of land use conflict and verify if it can contribute to reductions in surface runoff, avoiding the carriage of tailings to river channels. In the study, the SWAT model was used in the hydrological modeling of the Paraopeba River watershed affected by the rupture. The results show that the SWAT model was able to reproduce the flow data with good and very good performances. The quality indicators in the calibration step were NSE = 0.66, R2 = 0.69, PBIAS = 5.2%, and RSR = 0.59, and in the validation, step were NSE = 0.74, R2 = 0.77, PBIAS = 13.5%, and RSR = 0.51. The LULCC from 2000 to 2019 led to a 70% increase in lateral runoff (LATQ) and a 74% decrease in aquifer groundwater. The scenario of land use capability and no conflict can reduce lateral runoff by 37% and increase water infiltration by 265%, minimizing the point and diffuse contamination of the tailings in the Paraopeba river channel.

This study investigated the collapse of B1 mine-tailings dam that occurred in 25 January 2019 and severely affected the Brumadinho region (Minas Gerais state, Brazil) socially, economically and environmentally. As regards water resources, the event impacted the Paraopeba River in the first 155.3 km counted from the dam site, meaning nearly half the main water course downstream of B1. In the impacted sector, high concentrations of tailings-related Al, Fe, Mn, P in river sediment-tailings mixtures and water were detected, as well as changes to the reflectance of riparian forests. In the river water, the metal concentrations raised significantly above safe levels. For caution, the water management authorities declared immediate suspension of Paraopeba River as drinking water source to the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (6 million people), irrespective of representing nearly 30% of all supply. In this study, the main purpose was to assess potential links between tailings distribution, river water composition and reflectance of forest vegetation, which worked out as latent variables in regression models. The latent variables were represented by numerous physical and chemical parameters, measured 4 times in 22 sites during the dry period of 2019. The modeling results suggested the release of aluminum and phosphorus from sand fractions in the mine tailings as major cause of water contamination. The NDVI changes were interpreted as environmental deterioration. Changes in redox potential may have raised manganese concentrations in surface water further affecting the forest NDVI. Distance from the B1 dam and dissolved calcium appear to attenuate deterioration. Overall, the regressions allowed robust prognoses of environmental deterioration in the Paraopeba River under low flow conditions. More importantly, they can be transposed to similar dam ruptures helping environmental authorities to decide upon measures that can bring the affected rivers to pre-rupture conditions.

The rupture of mine-tailings dams can severely contaminate rivers, because released tailings can interact with water for years keeping contaminant concentrations high. The general purpose of this study was to examine the rupture of B1 tailings dam in Ferro-Carvão stream (municipality of Brumadinho, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil), which occurred in 25 January 2019 and contaminated the main water course (Paraopeba River) with 2.8 Mm

The present study aimed to investigate the rupture of B1 tailings dam of Córrego do Feijão mine, which drastically affected the region of Brumadinho (Minas Gerais, Brazil). The contamination of water resources reached 155.3 km from the dam site. In the river channel, high concentrations of Mn, Al, As and Fe were detected and correlated to the spillage of the tailings in the river. The presence of the tailings also affected the chlorophyll-a content in the water, as well as the reflectance of riparian forests. With the increase of metal(oid) concentrations above permitted levels, water management authorities suspended the use of Paraopeba River as resource in the impacted areas, namely the drinking water supply to the Metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. This study aimed to evaluate possible links between tailings distribution, river water quality, and environmental degradation, which worked as latent variables in partial least squares regression models. The latent variables were represented by numerous physical and chemical parameters of water and sediment, measured four times in 22 locations during the rainy season of 2019, in addition to stream flow and to NDVI evaluated in satellite images processed daily. The modeling results suggested a relationship between river flow turbulence and increased arsenic release from sand fractions, as well as desorption of Mn from metal oxides, both representing causes of water quality reduction. They also revealed increasing iron concentrations affecting the forest NDVI (greening), which was interpreted as environmental degradation. The increase of chlorophyll-a concentrations (related with turbidity decreases), as well as the increase of river flows (responsible for dilution effects), seemed to work out as attenuators of degradation. Although applied to a specific site, our modeling approach can be transposed to equivalent dam failures and climate contexts, helping water resource management authorities to decide upon appropriate recovery solutions.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:44:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-10-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Inadequate pasture management causes land degradation through reduction of grass, increased presence of invasive plants or pests, compaction, erosion, and nutrient deficiency. The recognition of pasture degradation is therefore essential. Remote sensing satellite systems allow us to do so at regional-to global scales. A struggle is in progress nowadays is to improve detection accuracy and implement high-resolution surveys at farm scales using low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The pasture imagery can be translated into maps of degraded pasture using the popular NDVI as diagnostic parameter, but their generation using a UAV requires a high-cost NIR sensor, while the struggle is to use low-cost UAVs equipped with RGB cameras. The first step to recognize degraded pastures using RGB cameras is to define a suitable vegetation index. Thus, the purpose of this study was to present the total brightness quotient of red (TBQR), green (TBQG), and blue (TBQB) bands. The test to the index resorted to LANDSAT-8 satellite images captured over the environmental protection area of Uberaba River basin (Minas Gerais, Brazil) in the 2017–2019 period. The images were not captured by a UAV because the equipment was not then available. The results were promising given the large detection accuracy (88.63%) of the TBQG and the high (0.965) correlation between TBQG and NDVI. Besides, the TBQ-based areas of degraded pasture (17,486.3–25,180.1 hectares) were larger than the NDVI counterparts (12,066.9 hectares). This is an additional reason to oversight degraded pastures based on the TBQs, as they seek for improved environmental compliance and economic development. Geoprocessing Laboratory Federal Institute of Triângulo Mineiro Uberaba Campus POLUS—Grupo de Política de Uso do Solo Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Regional Coordination of the Environmental Justice Prosecutor's Office of the Paranaíba and Lower Rio Grande River Basins Center for Research and Agro-environmental and Biological Technologies University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Center of Chemistry of Vila Real University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro POLUS—Grupo de Política de Uso do Solo Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) CNPq: 307921/2018-2 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: UIDB/00616/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: UIDB/04033/2020

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:09:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-03-25 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) The integration of internal (e.g., stratification) and external (e.g., pollution) factors on a comprehensive assessment of reservoir water quality determines the success of ecosystem restoration initiatives and aids watershed management. However, integrated analyses are scarcer than studies addressing factors separately. Integration is likely more efficient in studies of small well-characterized (experimental) reservoir watersheds, because the isolation of factor contributions is presumably clearer. But those studies are uncommon. This work describes the water quality of two small 5.5 m-deep reservoirs (MD-Main and VD-Voçoroca dams) located in Pindorama Experimental Center, state of São Paulo, Brazil, considering the interplay between reservoir dimension, seasonal thermal stratification, chemical gradients, erosive rainfall events, presence of natural biofilters, and land uses and landscape patterns around the reservoirs and within the contributing watersheds. The monitoring of agricultural activities and water quality parameters occurred in October 2018–July 2019. A 4 °C thermal stratification occurred in October (difference between surface and bottom water temperature), which decreased until disappearance in January (VD) or April (MD). The longer stratification period of MD was justified by its larger area relative to VD (≈10×). Thermal stratification triggered hypoxia at the bottom of both reservoirs (DO ≈ 1 mg/L), more prolonged and severe in MD. Hypoxia activated Ec and TDS peaks in January likely explained by bottom-sediment nutrient releases, presumably phosphorus. The Ec peak reached 560 μS/cm in MD and 290 μS/cm in VD. The smaller VD peak was probably explained by the action of macrophytes. In March, a 240 NTU turbidity peak occurred in MD, caused by precedent erosive rainfall and the lack of vegetation protection alongside the south border. As expected, the study accomplished clear isolation of factor contributions, verified by Factor and Cluster analyses. Our results can subsidize studies on larger reservoir watersheds requiring restoration, where the isolation of factors is more challenging. Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronomia Ciência do Solo, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n Polo Regional Centro Norte Departamento de Descentralização do Desenvolvimento – APTA Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento – SAA, Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 371, s/n Universidade Guarulhos (UNG). Programa de Mestrado em Análise Geoambiental (MAG). Praça Tereza Cristina 239 Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro Campus de Uberaba Laboratório de Geoprocessamento Centro Avançado de Pesquisa do Pescado Continental - APTA, Av. Abelardo Menezes, s/n Zona Rural CITAB – Centro de Investigação e Tecnologias Agroambientais e Biológicas Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Ap. 1013 CQVR – Centro de Química de Vila Real Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Ap. 1013 POLUS—Grupo de Política de Uso do Solo Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronomia Ciência do Solo, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n POLUS—Grupo de Política de Uso do Solo Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n CNPq: 307921/2018-2

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:24:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-07-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia The inadequate management of soils and the absence of conservation practices favor the degradation of pastures and can trigger adverse environmental alterations and damage under the terms of Brazilian Federal Law no. 6.938/1981. Based on this premise, this study aimed to estimate soil losses caused by water erosion in pasture areas using the brightness index (BI) from the annual series of Landsat 8 images in different geological formations. A specifically prepared Google Earth Engine (GEE) script automatically extracted the BI from the images. The study occurred in the Environmental Protection Area (EPA) of Uberaba River basin (Minas Gerais, Brazil). To accomplish the goal, 180 digital 500-wide random buffers were selected from 3 geologic types (60 points per type), and then analyzed for zonal statistics of USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) soil loss and BI in a Geographic Information System. The regression models BI versus USLE soil loss allowed estimating BI soil losses over the pastures of EPA. The model fittings were remarkable. The validation of soil loss maps in the EPA occurred in pasture phytophysiognomies through the probing of penetration resistance in 37 randomly selected locations. The results were satisfactory, mostly those based on the BI. The BI losses increased for greater resistances. Amplified losses also occurred in regions exposed to environmental land use conflicts (actual uses that deviate from land capability or natural use). Overall, the BI approach proved efficient to accurately track soil losses and pasture degradation over large areas, with the advantage of standing on a single parameter easily accessed through remote sensed data. From an environmental standpoint, this is an important result, because the accurate diagnosis and prognosis of degraded pastures is paramount to implement mitigation measures following the “polluter pays principle”, even more in Brazil where the areas occupied by degraded pastures are enormous. Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro Institute of Technological and Exact Sciences (ICTE) Federal Institute of Triângulo Mineiro Uberaba Campus Geoprocessing Laboratory Coordenadoria Regional das Promotorias de Justiça do Meio Ambiente das Bacias dos Rios Paranaíba e Baixo Rio Grande, Rua Coronel Antônio Rios, 951 Center for Research and Agro-environmental and Biological Technologies University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Ap. 1013 Center of Chemistry of Vila Real University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Ap. 1013 POLUS—Grupo de Política de Uso do Solo Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n POLUS—Grupo de Política de Uso do Solo Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: UID/00616/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: UID/04033/2020

RESUMO Este trabalho propõe indicadores ambientais de políticas públicas com base na espacialização dos parâmetros morfométricos e de conflito de uso em áreas municipais. As técnicas de geoprocessamento de imagens orbitais em sistemas de informações geográficas foram utilizadas para analisar o banco de dados dos valores de cada parâmetro morfométrico da superfície terrestre - área, perímetro, comprimento da rede de drenagem, densidade de drenagem, número de canais, frequência de rios, declividade e coeficiente de rugosidade - e elaborar os mapas temáticos de uso atual, de uso potencial e de conflito de uso do solo. Os dados foram submetidos à análise estatística descritiva e exploratória multivariada. A espacialização dos valores obtidos da caracterização morfométrica gerou indicadores físicos ambientais que possibilitaram a diferenciação de áreas. O conhecimento do sistema hidrológico dessas regiões reflete o sistema natural de drenagem em seu comprimento. O número de canais e conflito de uso indicam áreas prioritárias para gestão ambiental e políticas de uso do solo. Os parâmetros morfométricos são potenciais indicadores ambientais. ABSTRACT This study has the main objective to propose environmental indicators for public policies based on spatial distribution of morphometric characteristics and land-use conflicts in municipal areas. The techniques of satellite images in geographic information systems were used to analyze the database of the values of each morphometric parameter of the earth’s surface: area, perimeter, length of the drainage system, drainage density, number of channels, river frequency, slope and roughness coefficient and to elaborate thematic maps of current land-use, potential land-use, and land-use conflicts. The data were submitted to descriptive and multivariate exploratory statistical analysis. The spatial distribution of values of morphometric characterization generated environmental physical indicators which enabled the differentiation of areas. The knowledge of the hydrological system in these regions reflects the natural drainage system along its length. The number of channels and the land-use conflicts indicate priority areas for environmental management and land use policies. The morphometric characteristics are potential environmental indicators.

Human actions in the drainage network of hydrographic basins interfere with the functioning of ecosystems, causing negative impacts on the environment. Among these impacts, mass loads with a high concentration of phosphorus (P) have a significant potential for point and diffuse pollution of freshwater. The objective of this work was to model P spatially in the Paraopeba River basin, namely in the main water course and 67 sub-basins, and temporally in the years of 2019, 2020, and 2021, after the rupture of B1 tailings dam of Vale, SA company in Brumadinho (Minas Gerais Brazil). The distribution of total phosphorus concentrations (Pt) in relation to environmental attributes (terrain slope, soil class, and land use) and stream flow was assessed with the help of SWAT, the well-known Soil and Water Assessment Tool, coupled with box-plot and cluster analyses. The Pt were obtained from 33 sampling points monitored on a weekly basis. Mean values varied from 0.02 to 1.1 mg/L and maximum from 0.2 to 15.9 mg/L across the basin. The modeling results exposed an impact on the quality of Paraopeba River water in a stretch extending 8.8–155.3 km from the B1 dam, related with the rupture. In this sector, if the contribution from the rupture could be isolated from the other sources, the average Pt would be 0.1 mg/L. The highest Pt (15.9 mg/L) was directly proportional to the urban area of a sub-basin intersecting the limits of Betim town and Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region. In general, urban sprawl as well as forest-agriculture and forest-mining conversions showed a close relationship with increased Pt, as did sub-basins with a predominance of argisols and an accentuated slope (>20%). There were various moments presenting Pt above legal thresholds (e.g., >0.15 mg/L), mainly in the rainy season.

Degradation is currently affecting 25% of Earth's land and 40% of Earth's agricultural land. The environmental consequences of land degradation are vast, including amplified soil losses, water quality deterioration, biodiversity decline and degradation of ecosystem services and corresponding values, especially if actual land uses disrespect capability (natural use), in which cases land is in a state of environmental conflict. The global cost of land degradation just looking to agriculture approaches US$ 500 billion/yr. Facing this terrible ecological and economic scenarios, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the “Sustainable Development Goals” in 2015, which comprise a target to combat desertification and restore degraded land. The aim is to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030. Framework models have already been proposed to unpack this innovative concept and address its operation through the Rio Conventions. While implementing these models, which follow the response hierarchy of avoid > reduce > reverse land degradation, environmental consequences of land degradation should be compensated by sustainable land management practices that render the Earth no net loss of the land-based natural capital relative to a baseline. The ultimate goal is however to attain self sustainability whereby environmental and production potentials are supported by self-regulating processes within the system.

Highways and freeways are the main infrastructure channel used to transport cargo in Brazil. This cargo often includes dangerous chemical products which can, in the event of an accident, negatively impact the environment. The development and implementation of tools for the rapid diagnosis of environmental vulnerability in the transportation of dangerous goods has been studied. However, for highways and freeways there is a lack of studies based on environmental attributes, and not just based on statistical data which demands a specific period for collection and analysis and only after that the implementation of preventive measures. Thus, evaluation grounded on multiple criteria embedded in Geographic Information System (GIS) has significant potential for the practical implementation of risk management of road transportation of dangerous goods. This study has determined the environmental vulnerability of route BR 050, specifically the segment between the cities of Uberlândia and Uberaba in the state of Minas Gerais, where multi criteria analysis has been efficient in determining the most vulnerable areas. The main attributes analyzed were the drainage density, soil type and geology, determining that in case of an accident with dangerous substances the regional environment would be immediately affected, and so endorsing the use of this tool in many segments involved in environmental management of highway enterprises.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-01T10:03:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-02-25 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia In January 25, 2019, the B1 dam of Córrego do Feijão mine located in Brumadinho municipality (Minas Gerais, Brazil) collapsed and injected nearly 2.8 Mm3 of iron (Fe)- and manganese (Mn)-rich tailings in the Paraopeba River. This study assessed the contribution of tailings to the contamination of sediments and water by those metals. The dataset was built through daily to weekly samplings executed in the two years following the event, at 27 sites located along the Paraopeba plus 9 sites located at the confluence of main tributaries. The results evidenced a distinct contribution in the sectors “Anomalous” (8.6–63.3 km downstream from the dam) and “Natural” (115.8–341.6 km). The “Anomalous” sector presented large Fe/Al (12.2 ± 6.4) and Mn/Al (0.33 ± 0.19) ratios in sediments, thus being rich in tailings, while the “Natural” sector presented small ratios (2.4 ± 1.0; 0.06 ± 0.03) comparable to the natural sediments. A 500–700 m3/s stream flow discharge in the Paraopeba caused pronounced drops to the Fe/Al and Mn/Al ratios in the “Anomalous” sector, attributed to the mixture of contaminated sediments from the main water course with uncontaminated sediments injected by the tributaries during the event. Non-linear regressions showed Fe/Al and Mn/Al declines in the “Anomalous” sector, related with tailings mobilization downstream. The concentrations of Fe and Al in the sediments correlated positively with the corresponding concentrations in the Paraopeba water, conditioned by raising discharge rates and variations in the water pH. The contribution of tailings to the Fe correlation was demonstrated. No direct relation was established between the Mn concentrations in water and stream discharge, because manganese is associated with fine particles in the tailings that are mobilized to the water column even under low flows. The preliminary results of Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models predicted the return of Paraopeba to a pre-collapse condition in 7–11 years. CQVR – Centro de Química de Vila Real Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Ap. 1013 Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro Campus Uberaba Laboratório de Geoprossessamento Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável Cidade Administrativa do Estado de Minas Gerais Rodovia João Paulo II 4143 Bairro Serra Verde - Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais Coordenadoria Regional das Promotorias de Justiça do Meio Ambiente das Bacias dos Rios Paranaíba e Baixo Rio Grande Rua Coronel Antônio Rios 951 CITAB – Centro de Investigação e Tecnologias Agroambientais e Biológicas Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Ap. 1013 Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: UIDB/00616/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: UIDB/04033/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: UIDP/00616/2020

Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-26T17:31:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-05-01 FEDER/COMPETE/POCI - Operational Competitiveness Internationalization Programme National Funds of FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology Road spills of hazardous substances are common in developing countries due to increasing industrialization and traffic accidents, and represent a serious threat to soils and water in catchments. There is abundant literature on equations describing the wash-off of pollutants from roads during a storm event and there are a number of watershed models incorporating those equations in storm water quality algorithms that route runoff and pollution yields through a drainage system towards the catchment outlet. However, methods describing catchment vulnerability to contamination by road spills based solely on biophysical parameters are scarce. These methods could be particularly attractive to managers because they can operate with a limited amount of easily collectable data, while still being able to provide important insights on the areas more prone to contamination within the studied watershed. The purpose of this paper was then to contribute with a new vulnerability model. To accomplish the goal, a selection of medium properties appearing in wash-off equations and routing algorithms were assembled and processed in a parametric framework based on multi criteria analysis to define the watershed vulnerability: However, parameters had to be adapted because wash-off equations and water quality models have been developed to operate primarily in the urban environment while the vulnerability model is meant to run in rural watersheds. The selected parameters were hillside slope, ground roughness (depending on land use), soil permeability (depending on soil type), distance to water courses and stream density. The vulnerability model is a spatially distributed algorithm that was prepared to run under the IDRISI Selva software, a GIS platform capable of handling spatial and alphanumeric data and execute the necessary terrain model, hydrographic and thematic analyses. For illustrative purposes, the vulnerability model was applied to the legally protected Environmental Protection Area (APA), located in the Uberaba region, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this region, the risk of accidents causing chemical spills is preoccupying because large quantities of dangerous materials are transported in two important distribution highways while the APA is fundamental for the protection of water resources, the riverine ecosystems and remnants of native vegetation. In some tested scenarios, model results show 60% of vulnerable areas within the studied area. The most sensitive parameter to vulnerability is soil type. To prevent soils from contamination, specific measures were proposed involving minimization of land use conflicts that would presumably raise the soil's organic matter and in the sequel restore the soil's structural functions. Additionally, the present study proposed the preservation and reinforcement of riparian forests as one measure to protect the quality of surface water. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Univ Estadual Paulista, Fac Ciencias Agr & Vet, Dept Engn Rural, Jaboticabal, Brazil Inst Fed Triangulo Mineiro, Lab Geoprocessamento, Campus Uberaba, Uberaba, Brazil Univ Tras Os Montes & Alto Douro, Ctr Invest & Tecnol Agroambientais & Biol, Ap 1013, P-5001801 Vila Real, Portugal Univ Tras Os Montes & Alto Douro, Ctr Quim Vila Real, Ap 1013, P-5001821 Vila Real, Portugal Univ Estadual Paulista, Fac Ciencias Agr & Vet, Dept Engn Rural, Jaboticabal, Brazil FEDER/COMPETE/POCI - Operational Competitiveness Internationalization Programme: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 National Funds of FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology: UID/AGR/04033/2013 National Funds of FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology: UID/QUI/00616/2013

Cattle grazing is a major source of income across the globe, and therefore conservation of pastures is vital to society. Pasture conservation requires the full understanding of factors contributing to their degradation, which is facilitated through panoramic analyses capable to handle all factors and capture their relationships at once. In this study, Partial Least Squares – Path Modeling (PLS-PM) was used to accomplish that task. The study area was the Environmental Protection Area of Uberaba River Basin (525 km2), located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and extensively used for livestock pasturing (51%). The selected (15) contributing factors comprised soil characteristics (e.g., organic matter, phosphorus content), runoff indicators (e.g., percentage of sand and clay in the soil), environmental land use conflicts (deviations of actual from natural uses), stream water quality parameters (e.g., oxidation-reduction potential-ORP, turbidity), and pasture conservation indicators (extent of degraded pasture within a pre-defined buffer). These measured variables were assembled into 5 conceptual (latent) variables to form the PLS-PM model, namely Groundcover, Pasture Conservation, Surface Runoff, Environmental Land Use Conflicts and Water Quality. The results elected Groundcover as prominent contributor to Pasture Conservation, because of its largest regression (path) coefficient (β = 0.984). The most influent measured variable was organic matter. Surface Runoff (β = −0.108) and Environmental Land Use Conflicts (β = −0.135) contribute to pasture degradation. The role of conflicts is, however, limited to predefined areas where the deviations of actual from natural uses are more expressive. Pasture Conservation contributes unequivocally to improved Water Quality (β = 0.800), expressed as high ORP. The PLS-PM model was free from multi-collinearity problems and model fits (R2) were high. This gives us confidence to implement conservation measures and improved management techniques based on the PLS-PM results, and to transpose the model to other areas requiring pasture quality improvements.

Water erosion has historically been assessed by various methods, with the purpose to help reducing this phenomenon. However, application of models capable to handle complex relationships between large numbers of variables is still relatively scarce. The method of Partial Least Squares-Path Modeling (PLS-PM), used in this study, was able to expose complex causal paths between soil erosion and potentially related factors, namely “Surface Runoff”, “Environmental Land Use Conflicts”, “Soil Fertility” and “Relief Factors”, within the Environmental Protection Area of Uberaba River Basin (EPA) located in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. In the context of PLS-PM, soil erosion (dependent) and the related factors (independent) are called latent variables and described by measured or estimated parameters. For example, the “Relief Factors” were described by measured drainage density and topographic slope. These were linked to the corresponding latent variables through weights and the later joined to each other through paths. During the PLS-PM runs, weights and paths were quantified and latent variables interpreted in regard to their importance for soil erosion and spatial incidence. The spatial incidence was used to prioritize areas for soil conservation. To test the model, data were obtained from soil samples (texture and fertility parameters) or digitally extracted from cartographic products (e.g., maps of soil loss, land use, brightness index, topographic slope, drainage density), at 37 sites within the EPA. The PLS-PM results revealed that 70.2% of soil erosion is predicted by the independent variables (R2 = 0.702), and that “Soil Fertility” and “Environmental Land Use Conflicts” were the most influencing ones (β = −0.758 and β = 0.346, respectively). These variables can be managed by man, through implementation of effective soil conservation measures and respect for suitable land use. It is therefore urgent to act in these regard, considering the socioeconomic and environmental importance of the EPA.

Roads play an important role in the economic development of cities and regions, but the transport of cargo along highways may represent a serious environmental problem because a large portion of transported goods is composed of dangerous products. In this context, the development and validation of risk management tools becomes extremely important to support the decision-making of people and agencies responsible for the management of road enterprises. In the present study, a method for determination of environmental vulnerability to road spills of hazardous substances is coupled with accident occurrence data in a highway, with the purpose to achieve a diagnosis on soil and water contamination risk and propose prevention measures and emergency alerts. The data on accident occurrences involving hazardous and potentially harmful products refer to the highway BR 050, namely the segment between the Brazilian municipalities of Uberaba and Uberl&acirc, ndia. The results show that many accidents occurred where vulnerability is high, especially in the southern sector of the segment, justifying the implementation of prevention and alert systems. The coupling of vulnerability and road accident data in a geographic information system proved efficient in the preparation of quick risk management maps, which are essential for alert systems and immediate environmental protection. Overall, the present study contributes with an example on how the management of risk can be conducted in practice when the transport of dangerous substances along roads is the focus problem.

Riparian vegetation represents a protective barrier between human activities installed in catchments and capable of generating and exporting large amounts of contaminants, and stream water that is expected to keep quality overtime. This study explored the combined effect of landscape composition and buffer strip width (L) on stream water quality. The landscape composition was assessed by the forest (F) to agriculture (A) ratio (F/A), and the water quality by an index (IWQ) expressed as a function of physico-chemical parameters. The combined effect (F/A &times, L) was quantified by a multiple regression model with an interaction term. The study was carried out in eight catchments of Uberaba River Basin Environmental Protection Area, located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and characterized by very different F/A and L values. The results related to improved water quality (larger IWQ values) with increasing values of F/A and L, which were not surprising given the abundant similar reports widespread in the scientific literature. But the effect of F/A &times, L on IWQ was enlightening. The interaction between F/A and L reduced the range of L values required to sustain IWQ at a fair level by some 40%, which is remarkable. The interaction was related to the spatial distribution of infiltration capacity within the studied catchments. The high F/A catchments should comprise a larger number of infiltration patches, allowing a dominance of subsurface flow widespread within the soil layer, a condition that improves the probability of soil water to cross and interact with a buffer strip before reaching the stream. Conversely, the low F/A catchments are prone to the generation of an overland flow network, because the absence of permanent vegetation substantially reduces the number of infiltration patches. The overland flow network channelizes runoff and conveys the surface water into specific confluence points within the stream, reducing or even hampering an interaction with a buffer strip. Notwithstanding the interaction, the calculated L ranges (45&ndash, 175 m) are much larger than the maximum width imposed by the Brazilian Forest Code (30 m), a result that deserves reflection.

The riparian buffer width on watersheds has been modified over the last decades. The human settlements heavily used and have significantly altered those areas, for farming, urbanization, recreation and other functions. In order to protect freshwater ecosystems, riparian areas have recently assumed world recognition and considered valuable areas for the conservation of nature and biodiversity, protected by forest laws and policies as permanent preservation areas. The objective of this work was to compare parameters from riparian areas related to a natural watercourse less than 10 m wide, for specific purposes in Law No. 4761/65, now revoked and replaced by Law No. 12651/12, known as the New Forest Code. The effects of 15, 30 and 50 m wide riparian forest in water and soil of three headwater catchments used for sugar cane production were analyzed. The catchments are located in the Environmental Protection Area of Uberaba River Basin (state of Minas Gerais, Brazil), legally protected for conservation of water resources and native vegetation. A field survey was carried out in the catchments for verification of land uses, while periodical campaigns were conducted for monthly water sampling and seasonal soil sampling within the studied riparian buffers. The physico-chemical parameters of water were handled by ANOVA (Tukey&rsquo, s mean test) for recognition of differences among catchments, while thematic maps were elaborated in a geographic information system for illustration purposes. The results suggested that the 10, 30 or even 50 m wide riparian buffers are not able to fulfill the environmental function of preserving water resources, and therefore are incapable to ensure the well-being of human populations. Therefore, the limits imposed by the actual Brazilian Forest Code should be enlarged substantially.

Submitted by Guilherme Lemeszenski (guilherme@nead.unesp.br) on 2013-08-22T18:50:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 S0100-69162010000500012.pdf: 665307 bytes, checksum: 1c3b3e21d7e2037df6d52d962de5097e (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-22T18:50:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 S0100-69162010000500012.pdf: 665307 bytes, checksum: 1c3b3e21d7e2037df6d52d962de5097e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-01 Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-30T19:41:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 S0100-69162010000500012.pdf: 665307 bytes, checksum: 1c3b3e21d7e2037df6d52d962de5097e (MD5) S0100-69162010000500012.pdf.txt: 35639 bytes, checksum: 45d5b58f05ac64d6299988e45b0cd46e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-01 Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-20T13:17:08Z No. of bitstreams: 2 S0100-69162010000500012.pdf: 665307 bytes, checksum: 1c3b3e21d7e2037df6d52d962de5097e (MD5) S0100-69162010000500012.pdf.txt: 35639 bytes, checksum: 45d5b58f05ac64d6299988e45b0cd46e (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T13:17:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 S0100-69162010000500012.pdf: 665307 bytes, checksum: 1c3b3e21d7e2037df6d52d962de5097e (MD5) S0100-69162010000500012.pdf.txt: 35639 bytes, checksum: 45d5b58f05ac64d6299988e45b0cd46e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-01 Este trabalho teve por objetivo identificar qualitativamente as áreas suscetíveis à erosão laminar na bacia do Rio Uberaba, localizada em Uberaba -MG, apoiado no modelo matemático da Equação Universal de Perda de Solo (EUPS). Foram utilizadas cartas de: solos, uso e ocupação das terras, redes de drenagem, declividade e dados pluviográficos, utilizando-se de um Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG -IDRISI). A espacialização do potencial de erosão só foi possível a partir da estimativa da tolerância às perdas laminares para cada tipo de solo da bacia, e da profundidade dos solos, por entender que as perdas são mais significativas em solos mais rasos do que em solos muito profundos. Na análise dos resultados, verificou-se que 37% da área total da bacia do Rio Uberaba (905,24 km²) sofrem perdas de solos acima do limite de tolerância, sendo 12% em solos profundos e 25% em muito profundos, e a espacialização deste evento favorece a adoção de ações efetivas quanto à conservação dos solos da bacia. This work aimed to identify qualitatively the areas susceptive to laminar erosion in Uberaba river watershed, located in Uberaba-MG, Brazil, based on the mathematical model of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The following maps had been used: soil, land use, drainage net, slope and rainfall data, using a Geographic Information System (GIS - IDRISI) to analyze and manage the data that are linked to the location. The spatiality of the potential of erosion was possible from the estimative of the tolerance to laminar losses for each kind of soil in the watershed and soil depth, to understand that the losses are more significant in flatter soil than in very deep ones. In the analysis of the results, it was verified that 37% of the total area of the watershed of the Uberaba river (905,24 km²) showed losses above the tolerance limit, being 12% in deep soil and 25% in very deeply ones, and the spatiality of this event, regards to effective the actions due to soil conservation of the watershed. Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Triângulo Mineiro UNESP Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias UNESP Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias