Urban climate theory in northeastern Brazil: a systematic review

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a panorama of the spatial and temporal distribution of urban climate research carried out in northeastern cities from Brazil, between 2011 and 2023, through the contributions of papers published in Brazilian scientific journals in the areas of Geography and related sciences based on the Urban Climate System Theory (U.C.S.). To this end, the work uses a statistical approach to data spatialized in the QGIS geographic information system, which allows an analysis of the trends, perspectives and challenges facing the subject in the region (especially in terms of its applicability to the planning and urban management of cities in Sergipe), adopting bibliometrics and a literature review as methodological procedures. For this analysis, 205 papers published in 45 journals were obtained and it was found that most of the papers were published in the Revista Brasileira de Geografia Física and dealt with the thermodynamic field, followed by the hydrometeoric field. In addition, there was a certain segmentation of the northeastern territory into three axes: a) a greater concentration of studies in the states of Pernambuco, Ceará and Paraíba; b) a small proportion of studies in the states of Bahia, Alagoas and Rio Grande do Norte; c) an insufficient amount of research in Sergipe, Piauí and Maranhão.