Aquifer recharge: epistemology and interdisciplinarity
| Autor | Vitor Vieira Vasconcelos - Paulo Pereira Martins Junior - Renato Moreira Hadad - Sucharit Koontanakulvong |
| Cargo | PhD Candidate in Geology, UFOP, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil - PhD Candidate in Géologie Dynamique. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France - PhD in Computer Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais |
| Páginas | 360-409 |
http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1807-1384.2013v10n2p360
Esta obra foi licenciada com uma Licença Creative Commons - Atribuição 3.0 Não
Adaptada.
AQUIFER RECHARGE: EPISTEMOLOGY AND INTERDISCIPLINARITY
1
Vitor Vieira Vasconcelos2
Paulo Pereira Martins Junior3
Renato Moreira Hadad4
Sucharit Koontanakulvong5
Abstract:
The environmental issues related to aquifer recharge and discharge present
challenges that require an interdisciplinary approach. This paper reports an
epistemological study on the contribution of different fields of knowledge to the
research on hydrogeological processes. The study is based on the hypothesis that
this dialog is essential to the resolution of current and future environmental problems,
including those related to water use. The first proposition is to discuss
epistemological and information management approaches that may contribute to a
better spatial, qualitative and quantitative characterization of aquifer recharge.
Preliminary conceptual models are developed to demonstrate the possibilities of
interdisciplinary collaboration to solve the environmental issues presented here. The
paper concludes with a discussion of the possibilities of incorporating knowledge on
aquifer recharge into environmental and water resources policies.
Keywords: Aquifers. Hydrogeology. Epistemology. Environment. Interdisciplinarity.
1 We thank FINEP [Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Funding Authority for Studies and Projects)],
FAPEMIG [Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do estado de Minas Gerais (Minas Gerais Research
Foundation)], CNPq [Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (National
Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development)] and CAPES [Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level
Personnel)] for funding the research projects that enabled the elaboration of this paper. This paper
was developed in the PhD Graduate program in Crustal Evolution and Natural Resources of the
Federal University of Ouro Preto (Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto – UFOP). We thank the
Geology Department of the UFOP for hosting this research project.
2 PhD Candidate in Geology, UFOP, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Consultant in Environment and
Sustainable Development of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
E-mail: vitor.vasconcelos@almg.gov.br
3 PhD Candidate in Géologie Dynamique. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, LISE / CNRS, France. Full
Researcher of the Technological Center Foundation of Minas Gerais (Fundação Centro Tecnológico
de Minas Gerais - CETEC-MG). Professor in the Department of Geology of UFOP, Ouro Preto, Minas
Gerais, Brazil. E-mail: paulo.martins@cetec.br
4 PhD in Computer Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Universidade Federal de Minas
Gerais – UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Professor in the Graduat e Program in
Geography - Spatial Information Treatment of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais
(Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais - PUC-Minas). Pro-Rector of the PUC-Minas,
Barreiro Campus, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. E-mail: rhadad@pucminas.br
5 PhD in Agricultural Engineering. Associated Professor of the School of Engineering and head of the
Research Unit of Water Systems of the University of Chulalongkorn, Bangkok, Thailand. Association.
E-mail: sucharit.k@gmail.com
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INTRODUCTION
The topics of water infiltration into soil, the recharge and discharge of aquifers
and the relationship between precipitation and groundwater flow have been
addressed by a number of academic networks and communities. The departmental
structure of academia often results in research centers that gather professionals with
the same academic training, who specialize in a specific problem and therefore
provide an expert response (ROCHA, 2003, p. 162-165). For example, there are
research groups for aspects of the theme studied here in areas such as
hydrogeology (stricto sensu), structural geography, geotechnics, hydrology,
agronomy, sanitary engineering, environmental engineering, karst geomorphology,
environmental management and urban planning.
Each research center develops techniques in its research projects that are
related to different scales of approach and methods of analysis in research contexts
that differ in the available human and financial resources and the time devoted to
each research project, as well as other characteristics (MARTINS JUNIOR, 2000;
SCANLON et al., 2002). This relative heterogeneity of the research groups results in
a specialization of the conceptual and theoretical discourse over time (BAUER, 1990,
p. 105-110) and, finally, different means of analyzing hydrogeological phenomena.
Parallel to the scientific progress that resulted from the disciplinary approach
to knowledge (specialization), academia has recognized the possible benefits that
may emerge from a dialogue between the different research centers. This recognition
resulted in the valorization of interdisciplinary research. Typically, the interaction
between different research areas enables a broader analysis of the issues to be
studied (ROCHA, 2003, p. 169-170; ROCHA, 2004, p. 9). In addition, regarding the
advancement of scientific knowledge, the exchange between research communities
usually enables researchers to advance beyond the paradigms of each specific area
through exposure to new approaches to a given problem (FLORIANI, 2004, p. 36;
OLIVEIRA, 2005; SIVALAPAN, 2005).
Solving today’s environmental problems, which are often related to the
management of natural resources, is a clear example of the need for interdisciplinary
collaboration. As a means of interdisciplinary integration, Martins Junior (1998)
suggests that the fields of knowledge that originate from geoscience be combined in
what this author refers to as “Agricultural and Environmental Geosciences” to apply
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interdisciplinary solutions to the sustainable management of a region. A number of
environmental and epistemological studies have been performed using this approach
(MARTINS JUNIOR, 2006; MARTINS JUNIOR et al., 2006; 2008; 2009; 2010; 2012),
which demonstrated how land use management may be aided by a joint analysis of
aspects such as aquifer recharge, agricultural suitability and vegetation connectivity
as they regard both economic and ecological implications.
However, interdisciplinary dialog is not a challenge-free task. Such dialog is
based on a detailed analysis of the conceptual meanings of each of the theoretical
bodies of knowledge involved (BAUER, 1990, p. 113-115; FRANCELIN, 2011), which
often includes clarifying different interpretations of the same word or expression
(MARI, 2005). Transcending the concepts, the possibilities of links between the
theoretical configurations and approach paradigms require detailed epistemological
study (MARTINS JUNIOR, 2000; OLIVEIRA, 2005). These research efforts are not
always easy in the academic and professional environment because they require
changes in the custom of only valuing an expert in a particular field of knowledge and
considering his/her field as inviolable (ROCHA, 2003, p. 172-178).
Thus, this paper discusses the epistemological aspects related to the
possibilities of interdisciplinary dialog on the processes of groundwater circulation,
with special emphasis on aquifer recharge. The paper starts with a discussion of the
concepts and methods available for the different objects and scales of approach to
this process. Then, an interdisciplinary modeling of this knowledge is proposed using
diagrammatic and textual models based on information management technologies.
The paper concludes with a discussion of how knowledge regarding aquifer recharge
may support environmental and water resources policies.
EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES REGARDING OBJECTS, CONCEPTS AND
MULTISCALE METHODS
Epistemological Fields and Conceptual Domains
The first step in investigating the interdisciplinary theme involved in the study
of aquifer recharge is to detail how the academic communities developed different
interpretative approaches to solve issues that are important for society. Box 1 shows
a general view without intending to provide complete coverage of the fields of
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