Use of geographic information systems in (planning) sustainable land management in Brazil: potentialities and user needs.

Some research agendas require knowledge on potentialities of natural resources and socio-economic context in order to supply meaningful information for sustainable development. However, strong limitations hinder integration and interpretation of such data. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the land natural potential for agriculture in Brazil by physiographic region, (2) establish a stratification of land potential according to land management levels, and (3) develop a system analysis that offers both management of attributes and simulation of scenarios. The methedology was based on different levels of abstraction, eg, quantitative modelling of natural phenomena for land suitability and availability in Brazil: conceptual modelling of terrain objects; and software engineering modelling to supply user demands. The partial results include stratification of land use potentialities according to management technologie levels. The area distribution by crop production suitability suggest that management with adoption of technology plays as important role for increasing agricultural production. The conclusions are that: (1) Brazil has a enormous potential for agriculture, in which opportunities for land use vary strongly with management levels, and (2) a conceptual model of land suitability evaluation could offer a clear guide to geographic information system design for sustainable land use.