Modeling and map algebra to develop a sustainability atlas, focused on Brazilian ethanol context

• Grant number: 15/12981-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2015
• End date: March 20, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Tadeu Fabricio Malheiros
• Grantee: Alejandra Daniela Mendizábal Cortés
• Supervisor: Marcos Alberto Lana
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/00141-3 - Atlas of sustainability applied to ethanol context in Brazil: innovation in information systems to support decision, BP.DR

Abstract

Currently, ethanol export is linked to economic and political aspects, so its increase must also be based on the improvement of the social and ecological conditions, as they are key to rise up the international market. The state of São Paulo has responded to environmental issues through Agro-Environmental Zoning and Environmental licensing. Both tools are far from being a response to sustainability because are based on environmental considerations with an environmental purpose, even when they have as ultimate goal support sustainability. The issue of sustainability requires a multidisciplinary approach that integrates knowledge and information of all dimensions involve. It is with this in mind that proposes to develop an atlas of sustainability, focused on the requirements of the sugarcane industry, which allows decision-making oriented to sustainability. Given the previous questions, the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) becomes the tool of cartographic source, appropriate to handle data of different geographical scale and of different nature that an Atlas of Sustainability requires. To perform data integration is required not only to present attributes, but indicate the influence between them and their relationships, whether causal or not. Considering this, the Geomatics is a necessary tool to transfer these relations to GIS and establish the effects that the system experiences according to the alternatives in the decision process (system behavior simulations). The main objective of this project is to establish the final conceptual model and map algebra in environment GIS for a Sustainability Atlas applied to Brazilian ethanol context. (AU)