Protocol 17. Topography and Cartography

Coordinator:
MSc. Jorge Luis Gavina Pereira (MPEG)  - E-mail: jorgegavina@museu-goeldi.br
Protocol researchers:
East Pará - Dr. João Roberto Pinto Feitosa (UFOPA)
Mato Grosso - MSc. Everton Valdomiro Pedroso Brum (UNEMAT/AF)
Maranhão - MSc. Jucivan Ribeiro Lopes (UEMA)
Amapá - MSc. Claudia Funi (IEPA)

Geo-processing has enormous utilization potential in a country of large continental dimensions such as Brazil due to the serious lack of adequate information for making decisions concerning urban, rural and environmental issues (CÂMARA; DAVIS, 2001).

Geo-processing concepts take shape within the Geographic Information Systems - GIS. The GIS’s are information systems especially constructed to store, analyze and manipulate geographic data, i.e. data that represents objects and phenomenons in which geographic localization is an inherent characteristic and therefore an indispensable part in managing this data. Geographic data, or geo-referenced data, is collected from various sources and then stored, as a rule, in so-called geographic databases (CÂMARA et al., 1997).

There are numerous environmental applications for GIS’s, in two primary groups: the environment, including ecology, climate, forest management and pollution; and the use of natural resources, such as vegetable extraction, mineral extraction, energy, water and oceanic resources (CÂMARA et al., 1997). GIS’s therefore represent an important tool in studying the biological diversity of a region.

A specific protocol was therefore created in this context and within the Biodiversity Research Program – PPBio – Biological Inventories component – that is responsible for geo-referenced data: Protocol 18 – Topography and Cartography.

Objectives

To build and update a geo-referenced database for PPBIO research sites.

The PPBIO Amazon Research site is an area of 25 km² in which 12 trails of 5 km have been set out; six of these in a north to south direction, and six others in an east to west direction, forming a grid. Each grid has 30 permanent plots of 250 m in length, of variable width, located adjacent to the trails, set out in a north-south direction. The central axis (centerline) of the plot follows the trail’s contour-line from the point where the plot begins.

Specific objectives can be cites as follows:

§  To manage information resulting from the planialtimetric topographic survey of the PPBio grids;

§  To survey geo-referenced information for the PPBio grids (satellite images, altimetric data, drainage, etc…);

§  To create maps based on information resulting from the planialtimetric topographic survey;

§  To create maps based on geo-referenced data (satellite images, altimetric data, drainage, etc…) in various different scales;

§  To create thematic maps of the grid showing topographic, climate, soil and vegetation data.

To associate collection protocols with the variety of thematic maps.

Referências

CÂMARA, G. et al. Anatomia de Sistemas de Informação Geográfica. Curitiba: Sagres, 1997.

CÂMARA, G.; DAVIS, C. Introdução: Fundamentos de Geoprocessamento. In: CÂMARA, G.; DAVIS, C.; MONTEIRO, A.M.V. (Eds.). Introdução à ciência da geoinformação. São Jose dos Campos: INPE, 2001. p.1-5. Disponível em: <http://www.dpi.inpe.br/gilberto/livro/introd/>. Acesso em: 20 mar. 2008.

Observação: este texto foi escrito em coautoria com M.Sc. Ronildon Miranda dos Santos (Bolsista CNPq/DTI - PPBio/UAS).