Lincoln Eloi de Araújo

Uma medida de sustentabilidade ambiental: pegada hídrica

The concept of the water footprint has been recently introduced as an important indicator for human induced water consumption. The water footprint is defined as the total volume of water used during production and consumption of goods and services as well as direct water consumption by human beings. Water is not only consumed directly but also indirectly in production processes. Therefore, calculating the water footprint enables to quantify total water consumed along the whole global supply chain. This review surveys the state of the art on water footprint since the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade, held in Delft, The Netherlands, in December 2002, until current days. The major findings linked to the consulted literature indicated that the water footprint is suitable for monitoring the human impact on the environment. Furthermore, this methodology has a wide range of applications that can be used at scales ranging from a single product, process, industry, individual, cities and even nations around the globe.

Virtual water and water self-sufficiency in agricultural and livestock products in Brazil.

Virtual water trade is often considered a solution for restricted water availability in many regions of the world. Brazil is the world leader in the production and export of various agricultural and livestock products. The country is either a strong net importer or a strong net exporter of these products. The objective of this study is to determine the volume of virtual water contained in agricultural and livestock products imported/exported by Brazil from 1997 to 2012, and to define the water self-sufficiency index of agricultural and livestock products in Brazil. The indexes of water scarcity (WSI), water dependency (WDI) and water self-sufficiency (WSSI) were calculated for each Brazilian state. These indexes and the virtual water balance were calculated following the methodology developed by Chapagain and Hoekstra (2008) and Hoekstra and Hung (2005). The total water exports and imports embedded in agricultural and livestock products were 5.28xa0×xa01010 and 1.22xa0×xa01010xa0Gm3xa0yr-1, respectively, which results in positive virtual water balance of 4.05xa0×xa01010xa0Gm3xa0yr-1. Brazil is either a strong net importer or a strong net exporter of agricultural and livestock products among the Mercosur countries. Brazil has a positive virtual water balance of 1.85xa0×xa01010xa0Gm3xa0yr-1. The indexes used in this study reveal that Brazil is self-sufficient in food production, except for a few products such as wheat and rice. Horticultural products (tomato, onion, potato, cassava and garlic) make up a unique product group with negative virtual water balance in Brazil.

Clima Urbano: Uma Avaliação do Campo Térmico Urbano do Campus IV da UFPB\Rio Tinto-PB (Urban Climate: An Assessment of The Field of Urban Heat of Campus IV UFPB Rio Tinto-PB)

O processo de aceleracao da urbanizacao que teve inicio na era industrial, onde o homem saiu do campo para a cidade, vem acarretando grandes mudancas nos diversos sistemas ambientais. Sendo assim, e diante deste contexto que esta pesquisa se apresenta com o objetivo principal de avaliar as condicoes do campo termico urbano da UFPBCampus IV. O trabalho tambem analisou a intensidade da ilha de calor urbana da area de estudo e o seu indice de desconforto termico. Para a realizacao do trabalho, inicialmente foi feito um levantamento bibliografico a respeito da tematica em questao, seguido do trabalho de campo para a instalacao dos equipamentos – termo-higrometros (U-10)- em seis pontos experimentais espalhados pelo espaco intra-urbano do Campus IV da UFPB. As variaveis de temperatura e umidade relativa do ar foram monitoradas a cada uma hora de registro.. Observou-se que a vegetacao exerce papel fundamental na amenizacao climatica. De acordo com o calculo do IDT e a classificacao nas faixas ajustadas, o espaco intra-urbano da UFPB esta classificado nas faixas 1 (confortavel) e 2 (parcialmente confortavel). A ilha de calor teve valor maximo de 0,5 oC, considerado significativo por estar dentro de um mesmo espaco, com cerca de 500m de distância entre os dois pontos. Tais resultados sao imprescindiveis para o planejamento e a gestao ambiental do Campus IV da UFPB. ABSTRACT The acceleration of urbanization process that began in the industrial era, where the man left the countryside to the city, has been causing major changes in various environmental systems. Thus, in this context that research is presents with the main objective to assess the conditions of the urban thermal field UFPB Campus IV. The study also analyzed the intensity of the urban heat island of the study area and its discomfort index thermal. To conduct this work was initially done a literature about the topic in question, followed by the field work for the installation of equipment - Thermo-Hygrometers (U-10) - in six experimental points around the intra-urban space of the Campus IV UFPB. The variables of temperature and relative humidity were monitored every hour recording. Was observed that vegetation plays a key role in climate mitigation. According to the calculation of the IDT and the classification bands adjusted, the intra-urban space UFPB is ranked in bands 1 (comfortable) and 2 (partially comfortable). The heat island had a maximum of 0.5 ° C, to be considered significant within the same space, with about 500m distance between the two points. These results are essential for planning and environmental management of the Campus IV of the UFPB. Keywords: Urban Climate, Heat Island, Thermal Comfort

Padrão Mensal de Anomalias de Precipitação: Uma Análise Estatística de Eventos Hidrológicos Extremos nas Sub-Bacias do Rio São Francisco (Standard Monthly Precipitation Anomalies: A Statistical Analysis of Extreme Hydrological Events in Sub-Basins from...

Neste trabalho foi investigada a influencia da variabilidade climatica na ocorrencia de enchentes no Medio e Submedio da bacia hidrografica do Sao Francisco (BHSF). A cheia registrada em 1985 foi selecionada para analise por representar um evento hidrologico extremo com caracteristicas ambientais pouco documentadas. A utilizacao do indice RAI (“Rainfall Anomaly Index”) na escala mensal como metodo de analise permitiu detectar a intensidade, duracao e extensao das areas atingidas pelo fenomeno. Uma analise estatistica complementar atraves de Analise Fatorial por Componentes Principais (ACP), aplicada ao conjunto de valores mensais do RAI, permitiu identificar vinculos entre configuracoes espaciais de anomalias de precipitacao na BHSF e padroes atmosfericos que influenciaram a intensidade e distribuicao das chuvas. Os resultados mostraram que a atuacao conjunta de sistemas meteorologicos transientes de diferentes escalas e responsavel pela organizacao da conveccao, precipitacao intensa e formacao de cheias com inundacoes no Submedio da BHSF. n n nA B S T R A C T nIn this work the influence of the climatic variability upon the occurrence of floods in the Sao Francisco River Basin (SFRB)is investigated. The major flood of 1985 was selected for analysis since it represents an extreme hydrological event whose environmental characteristics are poorly documented. The Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI) obtained on a monthly scale allowed detection of the intensity, duration and extent of theareas affectedby the phenomenon. A complementary statistical analysisby means of the factorial analysis by principal components (PCA) applied to the monthly RAI values allowed to identify links between spatial configurations of the rainfall anomalies in the SFRB and atmospheric patterns that influenced rainfall intensity and distribution. The results showed that the joint action of transient meteorological systems of various scales is responsible for convection organization, heavy precipitation and formation of floods with inundations in the Lower Basin of the SFRB. n nKey-Words: Hydrographic Basin of the Sao Francisco River, inundations, RAI index, factorial analysis by principal components.

Campo Térmico Urbano e a sua Relação com o Uso e Cobertura do Solo em Cidade Tropical Úmida (Thermal Urban Field and its Relation to the Use and Land Cover in a Humid Tropical City)

As alteracoes ocorridas no sistema climatico urbano das grandes cidades sao processos relacionados ao adensamento urbano e as diferentes formas de uso e cobertura do solo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o campo termico urbano e a sua relacao com as diversas formas de uso e cobertura do solo em cidade tropical umida, especificamente a cidade de Joao Pessoa, PB. As medicoes da temperatura do ar e umidade relativa foram realizadas em dois periodos distintos de tres meses (seco e chuvoso), utilizando-se termo-higrometro da marca Hobos em nove pontos representativos da malha urbana de cidade.xa0 O nivel de estresse termico foi avaliado com base no indice de desconforto de Thom (IDT) para regioes tropicais, ajustado atraves de questionarios de avaliacao da sensacao termica das pessoas nos pontos monitorados. O teste de Mann-Kendall foi utilizado para avaliar a tendencia temporal das series climatologicas de temperatura, umidade relativa do ar e do IDT no periodo de 1963 a 2011. Os tipos de cobertura de solo de cada ponto monitorado foram classificados dentro de nove classes de acordo com a percentagem de vegetacao e de materiais permeaveis e impermeaveis utilizando metodos quantitativos e qualitativos. Os resultados do trabalho indicam que a f aixa de classificacao do indice de desconforto de Thom nao e apropriada para regioes tropicais umidas. A ilha de calor urbano e um fenomeno que ocorre preferencialmente durante o periodo noturno enquanto a intensidade maxima dos gradientes de temperatura e umidade relativa do ar sao fenomenos essencialmente diurnos. Os cenarios dos niveis de conforto termico indicam condicoes de forte desconforto ambiental para os anos de 2050 e 2060 durante o periodo seco e desconfortavel para o periodo chuvoso no ano de 2060 em toda area de estudo. Palavras chaves: c lima urbano, conforto termico, ilha de calor, gradiente de temperatura. Thermal Urban Field and its Relation to the Use and Land Cover in a Humid Tropical City ABSTRACT The changes in the urban climate system in great cities are processes related to urban density and the different forms of use and land cover. The objective of this study was to analyze the thermal urban field and its relation to the various forms of use and land cover in a humid tropical city, specifically Joao Pessoa city, PB, Brazil. Measurements in air temperature and relative humidity were carried out in two distinct periods of three months (dry and wet seasons), using thermo-hygrometer Hobos located in nine representative areas of the city. The level of heat stress was evaluated based on Thoms discomfort index (IDT, in Portuguese), adjusted for tropical regions based on questionnaires for assessing the thermal sensation that people have in function to the parameters that determine the environment in which they live. Mann-Kendall test was used to assess the temporal trends of time series in temperature, relative humidity and IDT for the period from 1963 to 2011. The types of ground cover of each monitored point were classified into nine classes according to the percentage of vegetation coverage and permeable and impermeable materials by utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results of the study indicated that the classification range of the Thom’s discomfort index is not suitable for humid tropical regions. The urban heat island is a phenomenon that occurs preferentially during the night while the maximum intensity of the temperature and relative humidity gradients are essentially diurnal phenomena. The scenarios of the thermal comfort levels indicated a strong discomfort for the 2050 and 2060 years during the dry season and uncomfortable condition during the rainy season in the 2060 year throughout the study area. Keywords: xa0urban climate, thermal comfort, heat island, temperature gradient.