Biogeochemical assessment in critical zones of contaminated urban area: EACH, Campus Capital USP East

• Grant number: 21/14808-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: April 01, 2022 - March 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: ROSELY APARECIDA LIGUORI IMBERNON
• Grantee: ROSELY APARECIDA LIGUORI IMBERNON
• Host Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Andréa Teixeira Ustra ; Fabiana Curtopassi Pioker Hara ; Fernando Augusto Saraiva ; Ricardo César Aoki Hirata

Abstract

The expansion of the urban limits does not only represent impacts related to land use and occupation, but promote changes in several other elements of the Earth system, promoting a synergy of environmental problems that should be the object of evaluation, magnification, monitoring, etc. When considering the assessment from the perspective of critical zones, where rock, soil, water, air and living organisms interact, negative externalities are reflected in the provision of ecosystem services and are often not perceived by the local and surrounding community. The conurbation promoted by urban expansion between the municipalities comprising the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo - RMSP and Macrometrópole Paulista (MMP) promoted the reduction (sometimes the disappearance) of the rural border areas, and in some points, they advanced into areas that should be protected. Complex interactions and connectivity in critical zones require an interdisciplinary approach to assessment and monitoring over long periods to understand the dynamics of processes and variables, in temporal and spatial scale. The objective of this project is to integrate different approaches to establish biogeochemical coefficients, from the plant-soil-water interaction in the critical zone, and to understand the patterns of seasonal evolution of vegetation in the critical zone. The study will be developed through the implementation of pilot critical zone observatories, involving partners for research, and a joint approach to geophysical methods, atmospheric parameters, geochemical and socio-environmental assessment. (AU)