Land use conflict and morphometric indicators for land use policy management

Abstract

This study has the main objective to propose environmental indicators for public policies based on spatial distribution of morphometric characteristics and land-use conflicts in municipal areas. The techniques of satellite images in geographic information systems were used to analyze the database of the values of each morphometric parameter of the earth's surface: area, perimeter, length of the drainage system, drainage density, number of channels, river frequency, slope and roughness coefficient and to elaborate thematic maps of current land-use, potential land-use, and land-use conflicts. The data were submitted to descriptive and multivariate exploratory statistical analysis. The spatial distribution of values of morphometric characterization generated environmental physical indicators which enabled the differentiation of areas. The knowledge of the hydrological system in these regions reflects the natural drainage system along its length.The number of channels and the land-use conflicts indicate priority areas for environmental management and land use policies. The morphometric characteristics are potential environmental indicators.