Coastal regionalization with self-organizing maps-Water quality variables applied to cluster formati

Page 1

International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science (IJAERS) https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijaers.79.2

[Vol-7, Issue-9, Sep- 2020] ISSN: 2349-6495(P) | 2456-1908(O)

Coastal regionalization with self-organizing maps-Water quality variables applied to cluster formation Oliveira, Bruno Meirelles1*; Carneiro, Cleyton de Carvalho2; Harari, Joseph3; Belosevich, Pablo de Sosa4 1Institute

of Energy and Environment of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. School of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. 3Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. 4Institute of Energy and Environment of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. *Corresponding author 2Polytechnic

Abstract— Human sewage disposal can interfere with water quality and thus diminish the ecosystem services provision, including Phytoplankton lifespan. Understanding the role played by sewage disposal in water quality can be useful not only for tourism planning but also for characterizing beaches based on water quality using secondary data and avoiding the costs of sampling and monitoring. The objectives of this paper were to understand the water quality behavior at several small bays in a coastal city of Brazil and to test the use of self-organizing maps in forming clusters similar to those derived from geomorphology and to understand how representative these maps were of the water quality of the whole city. According to our results, self-organizing maps showed similar behavior to geomorphological processes, confirm the hypothesis of cluster formation due to quality and also presented a new pattern of data variation related to seasonality that was not noticed before in the sampling. Keywords— Batheability, self-organizing maps, coastal management, water quality. I. INTRODUCTION Marine ecosystem services (ES) such as supplying fisheries, carbon sequestration, food provision, and recreation—all of which make an undeniable contribution to human well-being—are being affected by changes in the climate system (Costanza, 1997;Pauly, 2005; Beaumont et al., 2007; de Groot, 2012). Ocean ES contribute more than 60% of the total economic value of the biosphere (equivalent to almost US$21 trillion per year [1994 US$]; Costanza et al., 1997). De Groot (2012) shows an average income from coastal zones of $2,384.00/ha/year from food provision plus $256/ha/year from recreation. These values reinforce the importance and irreplaceability of marine ecosystem services, putting their management firmly on the decision‐making agenda. However, despite various initiatives in this direction, including the development of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (Pauly, 2005) and an assessment of the state of health of the global ocean (Halpern et al., 2012), ocean management is still neglected by governments, even at the highest international level. One of the issues most relevant to ocean ecosystem services is that related to phytoplankton www.ijaers.com

(photosynthetic microalgae), which are responsible for 50% of global annual marine net primary production (NPP). Phytoplankton, which link the atmospheric and ocean carbon cycles via the biological carbon pump, have crucial importance in trophic chains and ecological balance (Rither, 1969;Field et al., 1998;Falkowski and Oliver, 2007;Falkowski and Raven, 2007;Behrenfeld, 2014). The study of phytoplankton within the marine realm is of vital importance, given the threat of climate change and its knock-on effects on local oceanographic regimes (Armbrecht et al., 2014). Human sewage disposal can interfere with phytoplankton communities and affect the ecosystem services they provide (KIMOR, 1992), including the recreational use of beaches. Sewage, because of it organic contents, impacts the marine ecosystem when discharged into the ocean, providing high nutrient loads to the coastal zone, especially of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P). Furthermore, a high seasonal flow of tourists, together with their related economic attributes, contributes to a significant increase in sewage rates, and this directly interferes with the nutrient rates available for phytoplankton. Page | 7


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.