STATISTICAL MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS APPLIED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SOIL IN SEMIARID REGION

Authors

  • Antônio Italcy de Oliveira Júnior Department of Civil Engineering / Water Resources and Sanitation, Universidade Federal do Cariri, Juazeiro do Norte, CE http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8297-5068
  • Luiz Alberto Ribeiro Mendonça Department of Civil Engineering / Water Resources and Sanitation, Universidade Federal do Cariri, Juazeiro do Norte, CE http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8166-3337
  • Sávio de Brito Fontenele Department of Production Engineering, Faculdade Paraíso do Ceará, Juazeiro do Norte, CE http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5098-762X
  • Adriana Oliveira Araújo Department of Environment, Instituto Federal da Paraíba, Princesa Izabel, PB http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3372-5668
  • Maria Gorethe de Sousa Lima Brito Department of Civil Engineering / Water Resources and Sanitation, Universidade Federal do Cariri, Juazeiro do Norte, CE http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8977-1116

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-21252019v32n120rc

Keywords:

Factor analysis. Cluster analysis. Soil variables.

Abstract

Soil is a dynamic and complex system that requires a considerable number of samples for analysis and research purposes. Using multivariate statistical methods, favorable conditions can be created by analyzing the samples, i.e., structural reduction and simplification of the data. The objective of this study was to use multivariate statistical analysis, including factorial analysis (FA) and hierarchical groupings, for the environmental characterization of soils in semiarid regions, considering anthropic (land use and occupation) and topographic aspects (altitude, moisture, granulometry, PR, and organic-matter content). As a case study, the São José Hydrographic Microbasin, which is located in the Cariri region of Ceará, was considered. An FA was performed using the principal component method, with normalized varimax rotation. In hierarchical grouping analysis, the “farthest neighbor” method was used as the hierarchical criterion for grouping, with the measure of dissimilarity given by the “square Euclidean distance.” The FA indicated that two factors explain 75.76% of the total data variance. In the analysis of hierarchical groupings, the samples were agglomerated in three groups with similar characteristics: one with samples collected in an area of the preserved forest and two with samples collected in areas with more anthropized soils. This indicates that the statistical tool used showed sensitivity to distinguish the most conserved soils and soils with different levels of anthropization.

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Published

01-04-2019

Issue

Section

Agricultural Engineering