Modelling and Development of a Web System for Analysis and Manipulation of Spatial Data for Coastal Areas of the Rio Grande do Norte State, RN, Brazil

The Northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte (RN) State is characterized by an intense coastal dynamics compared to other Brazilian coastal regions. In this area are installed the main socioeconomic activities of the RN State (the oil industry, salt companies and shrimp farms). The oil industry is the most affected by this dynamic that causes strong erosion on the shore and exposure of wells and pipelines installed along of the beach. This feature justifies the integration of multidisciplinary and detailed scientific studies to evaluate the evolution of the coastal environment. The main objective of this work is to develop an intelligent computational system where the main element is a Geographic Database with spatial data of the study area. Furthermore, the OpenSource technologies were included in the development of a Web system like: GeoServer as framework of the view; PostgreSQL as DataBase Management System; PostGIS spatial extension, and the Apache Web Server. This specific software architecture, allowed remote access to spatial and alphanumeric data of the RN State.