2.3 Innovated CDA Methodology
In this CDA operation, as well as in other projects implemented
throughout the territory of the State of São Paulo, we were faced with
the difficulty of covering the 330 thousand agricultural properties in
the state, and a new strategy urged to be developed. Hence, a new
methodology for inspection was adopted - the Innovated CDA Methodology -
which was applied in watershed section III, in Marília, with an area of
27,775 ha (monitored from 2017 to 2018).
This methodology consists of preparing the diagnosis in the office,
using the databases of the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR, 2017) and,
then, opening and saving the georeferenced “shapefile” with the
property limit. Information about the owner and the property was
retrieved from the Animal and Plant Defence Management System (GEDAVE,
2017). The CAR and GEDAVE information are spatialized in Google Earth®
Pro, (current aerial images), allowing an interface with databases,
through which we are able to perform a diagnosis, and an inspection by
remote sensing. Within the perimeter of the property, which shapefile
was imported into Google Earth®, the diagnosis begins with a
visualization of the erosions, followed by inserting a georeferenced GPS
point on this erosion, drawing a polygon of the outline of this erosion,
classifying the erosion according to soil conservation legislation (São
Paulo State, 1988) and preparing an Excel® spreadsheet with the
following information: number of georeferenced GPS points, erosion type,
description of the erosion (Table 2), and erosion surface area (ha).
This work is carried out throughout the property’s perimeter.
Once the diagnosis by remote sensing is completed, a coloured aerial
image is saved (in JPEG format), as well as the spreadsheet in Excel®,
and they are made available to the CDA Staff, who will, then, visit the
property and go straight to the erosion site, as it is geo-referenced,
without the need to inspect the site to identify an erosion. The
presence of the erosion is investigated and, if present, checked against
the description in the Excel® spreadsheet. If the erosions agree with
the data on the spreadsheet, the information is maintained; if they
differ, the information on the spreadsheet is corrected. Once all the
points on the spreadsheet have been visited, , and the erosions
photographed, we have real data on the soil situation of the
agricultural property. The data is incorporated in the notification that
is handed to the owner and, after this stage, the procedures are
identical to the conventional CDA methodology: the property owner hires
an Agricultural Engineer, who prepares a technical conservation project
to restore the degraded area.