Luis Conti

• Professor
• University of São Paulo

Introduction: The quality of municipal solid waste governance is a key public issue associated with environmental, social, and health concerns that still demands appropriate indicators to encompass different policy, management, and data availability settings worldwide. This study aimed to develop and apply a Municipal Solid Waste Governance Index (...

Here, we discovered areas of endemism (AoE) for land planarians (Geoplaninae) and tested the influence of the past climate in the formation of AoEs in the southeastern AF in Brazil. Location Southeastern Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Materials and Methods We used 1888 records of 371 species in Endemicity Analysis and Geographic Interpolation of Endemi...

Identifying sources is crucial for proposing effective actions to combat marine litter pollution. Here, we used an innovative approach to identify hotspots of mismanaged plastic waste (MPW) within Brazil and subsequent leakage to the ocean, based on population density, socio-economic conditions, municipal solid waste management and environmental pa...

In this study we applied for the first time Fully Convolutional Neural Networks (FCNNs) to a marine bathymetric dataset to derive morphological classes over the entire Irish continental shelf. FCNNs are a set of algorithms within Deep Learning that produce pixel-wise classifications in order to create semantically segmented maps. While they have be...

The Volta Grande do Xingu (VGX) in the Amazon Forest of Brazil was chosen to analyze the land use and land cover changes (LULCC) from 2000 to 2017, with the aim of assessing the most suitable classification method for the area. Three parametric (Mahalanobis distance, maximum likelihood and minimum distance) and three non-parametric (neural net, ran...

Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry is a time and cost-effective method for high-resolution 3D mapping of cold-water corals (CWC) reefs and deep-water environments. The accurate classification and analysis of marine habitats in 3D provide valuable information for the development of management strategies for large areas at various spatial and...

Litter pollution is a global concern, and identifying sources and pathways is crucial for proposing preventative actions. Existing models of plastic litter leakage to the environment have provided worldwide estimates at a country-based level, but only a few initiatives address subnational scales. Adding relevant parameters and improving models is n...

Mangroves and seagrass contribute to people’s quality of life, taking an important place in the Blue Economy context. Activities such as fishing contribute to the national economies of many developing nations. Carbon sequestration in these systems is considered among the most effective among ecosystem types—even including terrestrial systems—and he...

Cold-water coral (CWC) reefs are considered “hotspots” of biodiversity in deep-sea environments. Like tropical coral reefs, these habitats are subject to climate and anthropogenic threats. The use of remotely operated vehicles (ROVSs) in combination with three-dimensional (3D) modelling and augmented reality (AR) has enabled detailed visualisation...

The use of Object Based Analysis (OBIA) from drone images (Unmanned Aerial vehicles - UAVs) has been increasingly employed in land use mapping, specifically in coastal areas, regions of high dynamics and complexity. Such approaches can be very useful as they allow the elaboration of high spatial resolution maps and multitemporal analysis. However,...

The Celtic Sea, situated off the south coast of Ireland is characterised by a gently southwest-sloping palaeo-glaciated seabed superimposed by a network of Holocene bedforms. During the Last Glacial Maximum (~27 ka BP) the region was occupied by the Irish Sea Ice Stream, which has left an intricate pattern of subglacial meltwater channels and morai...

Cold-water coral (CWC) reefs are complex structural habitats that are considered biodiversity “hotspots” in deep-sea environments and are subject to several climate and anthropogenic threats. As three-dimensional structural habitats, there is a need for robust and accessible technologies to enable more accurate reef assessments. Photogrammetry deri...

Cold-water coral (CWC) habitats are considered important centers of biodiversity in the deep sea, acting as spawning grounds and feeding area for many fish and invertebrates. Given their occurrence in remote parts of the planet, research on CWC habitats has largely been derived from remotely-sensed marine spatial data. However, with ever-developing...

Abstract Strong currents are a key component of benthic habitats by supplying food and nutrients to filter-feeding organisms such as cold-water corals. Although field measurements show that cold-water coral habitats exist in areas of elevated bottom currents, flume studies show that cold-water corals feed more effectively at lower flow speeds. This...

Areas of endemism (AoE) are the main study units in analytical biogeographic methods, and are often defined as an area with two or more endemic species living in them, presenting substantial congruence among their range limits. We explored the distribution of land planarians (Geoplanidae, Platyhelminthes) across the southern region of the Brazilian...

This article describes changes in the shoreline near the port complex at Maranhão, Brazil, and adjacent areas. The main objective was to evaluate the morphological changes in the study area during recent decades based on satellite remote sensing image analysis by comparing a series of eight images obtained with different sensors (Landsat, Quickbird...

Cold-water coral (CWC) mounds are biogenic, long-lived morphostructures composed primarily by scleractinian CWC’s and hemipelagic sediments that form complex deep-sea microhabitats found globally but specifically along the European-Atlantic margin. In this work, high-resolution mapping was applied to identify individual organismal distribution and...

Free software of Geographic Information Systems have been well evaluated worldwide and therefore their use for teaching in higher education can be a good opportunity, due to the quality and savings they provide. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to analyze the students’ and professors’ perception and experience using Quantum GIS (QGIS) for lea...

Mapping techniques and spatial data management in coastal areas are still the subject of methodological and technological development, especially regarding systems for the organization and integration of data and information. The availability of integrated and comprehensive spatial information within the context of a multidisciplinary project is th...

Com a boa reputação de softwares livres de Sistemas de Informações Geográficas, seu uso para ensino em cursos de nível superior pode ser uma boa oportunidade devido à economia e qualidade que oferecem. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a percepção e experiência dos alunos e do docente ao utilizarem o Quantum GIS (QGIS) para ensino de Geoprocessa...

Coastal regions has been subject to pressures of different origins, types, and magnitudes, which compromise environmental services and lessen the quality of life for the population that depends on coastal resources. The aim of coastal management is to integrate economic, social, and environmental interests, and to seek regional sustainability. This...

This work considers mangrove cover changes in two subtropical estuaries in the southeastern coast of Brazil: Cananéia-Iguape Coastal System and Santos Estuarine System. A sequence of Landsat images from 1985 to 2014 from both areas was segmented, classified and analyzed in order to develop a systematic GIS approach for identifying and characterizin...

Esforços internacionais têm reiterado que a sistematização do conhecimento das áreas costeiras é importante para a compreensão da dinâmica dos processos físicos e antrópicos de áreas litorâneas. Novas abordagens metodológicas envolvendo propostas de mapeamento e classificações de costa baseadas na avaliação de propriedades físicas, biológicas, mode...

Symbolic Models applied to Synthetic Aperture Sonar images are proposed in order to assess the validity and reliability of use of such models and evaluate how effective they can be in terms of image classification and segmentation. We developed an approach for the description of sonar images where the pixels distribution can be transformed into poi...

In a context of rapidly growing demand of information and production of technical and scientific knowledge about biotic and abiotic parameters of marine and coastal environments, the process of design integrated databases programs and geo-portals for disseminating information becomes imperative. Although isolated efforts have been proposed in recen...

Pretende-se avaliar e determinar a aplicabilidade das principais propostas de classificação de costa existentes na literatura para toda zona costeira do estado de São Paulo e, complementarmente, a partir de uma área padrão, utilizar alguns destes métodos avaliando a potencialidade de uso para aplicações especificas, como planejamento ambiental urba...

The aim of this work is to use GIS integration data to characterize sedimentary processes in a SubTropical lagoon environment. The study area was the Cananéia Inlet estuary in the southeastern section of the Cananéia Lagoon Estuarine System (CLES), state of São Paulo, Brazil (25°03′S/47°53′W). The area is formed by the confluence of two estuarine c...

Este trabalho apresenta uma analise da variação da linha de costa na região da Ilha dos Guarás, Município de Mariteua-PA ao longo das ultimas 3 décadas. Foi analisada uma seqüência de imagens de satélite de alta resolução da área e estabelecido um projeto em Sistema de Informações geográficas (SIG) visando a identificação e caracterização da linha...

Symbolic Models applied to Synthetic Aperture Sonar images are proposed in order to assess the validity and reliability of use of such models and evaluate how effective they can be in terms of image classification and segmentation. We developed an approach for the description of sonar images where the pixels distribution can be transformed into poi...

Este trabalho apresenta aspectos da relação entre a evolução da paleodrenagem e evolução do nível do mar pós Ultimo Máximo Glacial (UMG) para a região da plataforma continental da região de São Sebastião, Litoral norte do Estado de São Paulo – Brasil. Para tal, foram analisados modelos topográficos de detalhe da região de Plataforma Continental a p...

Este trabalho apresenta aspectos da relação entre a evolução da paleo-drenagem e evolução do nível do mar pós Último Máximo Glacial (UMG) para a região da plataforma continental do Estado de São Paulo. Para tal, foram analisados modelos topográficos de detalhe da região de Plataforma Continental a partir de Modelos Digitais de Terreno além de dados...

We show some evidences that the Southeastern Brazilian Continental Shelf (SBCS) has a devil's staircase structure, with a sequence of scarps and terraces with widths that obey fractal formation rules. Since the formation of these features is linked with the sea-level variations, we say that the sea level changes in an organized pulsating way. Altho...

Resumo Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo a análise geomorfológica da região de Plataforma Continental do Estado de São Paulo, mais especificamente a área que compreende a porção centro-norte do Embaimento de Santos (de Cananéia a Ilha Grande). Foram elaborados modelos digitais de terreno (MDTs) da plataforma continental a partir da digitalização de...

Although estuaries are one of the most exploited coastal systems in the world, the lack of knowledge on their sedimentological behavior still persists. The aim of this work is to enhance the understanding of suspended sediment concentration variability, and its relation to tidal currents oscillation, in microtidal estuaries. To reach this objective...

Many studies have already associated drowned valleys and channels to transgressive periods when sub-aerial drainage was constructed over the continental shelf. In this work a digital terrain model (DTM) was used in the study of these bottom topographic features. The original model was constructed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for the...

Landsat thermal data are employed to correlate the distribution of sea-surface temperatures and topographic configuration of internal and medium continental shelf of the São Paulo State, Brazil. Despite significant restrictions on use of landsat thermal data on the determination of sea temperatures, it showed advantages compared to oceanographic sa...

This work has as objective the understanding of the relationship of different scale-variables in the region of São Sebastião continental shelf (São Paulo State, Brazil). It were analysed data from bathymetry, bottom sediments and sediment cores. Apparently there are a direct correlation between sea level changes regime and actual deposition in the...