Urban Climate in Cuiabá / MT: The dimension of risk in areas of high socio-spatial vulnerability

Abstract

There is general agreement about the trend to rising temperatures in recent centuries, around the Planet. In the cities, which concentrates most of the population, these effects are intensified because of the way of use and occupation of the surface and the inadequate construction materials. This was responsible for the origin of the phenomenon called Urban Heat Islands. Its effects are damaging to the quality of life, the urban environment and health, ranging from a simple thermal discomfort the most fatal effects. However, it does not affect everyone evenly, but according to the socio-spatial inequalities that this research will be examined as a basis for the theory of the Urban Space Production, Climate Geography and Vulnerability. The city of Cuiabá, is part of this connection with the aggravation of having the natural conditions which places it among the hottest in the country. So it was selected for a case study. The central hypothesis is that there will be strong coincidence between the areas of greatest Socio-Spatial Vulnerability (VSE) with the hottest areas. The poor and inadequate conditions of construction materials, associated with high context Vulnerability Socio-Spatial, create a microclimate in households located in this spatial context, which is a risk factor to health, quality of life and thermal comfort, especially to the band age belonging to the risk group: children, the elderly, people with diseases and disabilities. To confirm or refute the hypothesis, it is proposed: To study the urban climate, trying to understand the processes and the ways in which materializes the atmospheric phenomenon of heat islands / freshness, as well as their unequal effects, subject to the VSE indexes for each sector urban census . In addition, it seeks to answer the microclimate of dwellings with inadequate building materials, with residents belonging to risk groups, located in areas of high VSE, can be considered a risk factor for these residents. As the methodological procedures, you must create and map the Socio-Spatial Vulnerability Index (IVSE) from the city of Cuiabá, based on the method of Social Vulnerability Index - SoVITM. This index is based on the database (alphanumeric and graphical / vector) Public Domain 2010 Census, released by IBGE. As a complement, the mapping of geo-environmental conditions in temperatures will be developed, such as shaded relief, hypsometry, use and occupation of surface, slope, NDVI, Guidance aspects, Surface Temperature. They will use remote sensing products available freely by TOPODATA (geomorphometric Database Brazil) and the USGS. The GIS will be held on GIS ArcGIS / ArcMap 10 and QGIS. It will apply the methodology of mobile transects for evaluation and modeling of urban heat islands. Anyway, it will be integrated analysis of all of spatialized information for selection of households who will be evaluated microclimate. a subjective assessment based on the perception of residents will be made by means of interviews, informal conversations and / or questionnaires and objective assessment, based on the use of digital temperature and humidity sensors (logger Humidity-temperature) that will record time (indoor and outdoor) in the months most critical health and thermal comfort: July and September. With this is expected to have a reasonable basis to confirm, refute or put new elements on the raised hypothesis.