The influence of relief and surficial covers on urban land use and land cover: seasonal flooding on summits in Uberlandia/MG, Brazil

Flooding processes during rainy seasons are common in large and medium urban centers in Brazil, and their causing factors are very particular. In the city of Uberlandia, state of Minas Gerais, specifically in the Morumbi neighborhood, seasonal floodings have been observed since the settlement of houses, causing several urban and social impacts. The influence of relief and surficial covers may explain part of this phenomenon, which already happened even before the establishment of the neighborhood. In this perspective, we considered regional geological-geomorphological aspects to understand the dynamics of the pre-existing existing natural systems to the population through image analysis, aerial photographs, radars available, and rainfall intensity, correlating such data to the flooding areas registered between 2012 and 2016 by the municipality's Civil Defense. We identified that the neighborhood was established on residual relief of the Uberlandia-Uberaba plateau, and the main flooding areas are in former summit surface depressions that store water during the rainy season in this geomorphological compartment. This process is intensified by the artificial impermeability of the land and by the rainfall intensity, which causes recurrent floodings in the rainy season.