Modeling and Development of a WebGIS for environmental monitoring of coastal areas that are influenced by the oil industry

Coastal areas are strongly modified due the own natural factors, such as direction and speed of the marine currents, height of the waves, level of the tides, action of the winds, among others. These elements can affect the morphologic structure of an area, because they are the main responsible for the erosion / deposition of sediments. The Guamaré area is situated in the north portion of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, it is marked strongly by depositionals and erosions coastal processes caused by the united action of the winds, currents, waves and tides. It is an area with high coastal dynamics, being constantly modified by the coastal parameters. The case study used in this work was the area of Guamaré, located in the northern portion of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil. In this area there is the Guamaré Pole Petroleum, the largest onshore oil producer in Brazil, which makes the area highly susceptible to accidental spillage of oil. Besides the erosion occurs in the region for socio-economic conflicts, besides the action of the oil industry, there is also a strong trend towards the expansion of shrimp farming, as the interest shown by business sector to occupy areas formerly used for salt extraction. Another important aspect is the development of economic activities in the vicinity of riverbeds components of watersheds. WebGIS technology is particularly interesting for the dissemination of the geographical information and its variations. The main objective of this study was to model and develop a WebGis based on a spatio-temporal database to analyze and assess areas that are influenced by the oil industry and in need of environmental management. The applied methodology followed a sequence of steps: collection of data that would be inserted in WebGIS, development of the conceptual, logical and physical models, development of a spatio-temporal database and a Web system which access this database, access to the WebGIS via internet. With this WebGIS is possible to analyze the changes occurring in the coastal area Guamaré from 2000 until the present day. It’s possible to see a noticeable devastation of area for shrimp farming, salt and oil exploration. Guamaré is an area affected and in need of a continuous monitoring.