Building a local spatial data infrastructure (SDI) to collect, manage and deliver coastal information

Abstract Mapping techniques and spatial data management in coastal areas are still the subject of methodological and technological development, especially regarding systems for the organization and integration of data and information. The availability of integrated and comprehensive spatial information within the context of a multidisciplinary project is therefore an important step towards to defining methodological solutions to the characterization of coastal environment and their interrelations for management. The “Biota/Araca Project” (Biodiversity and functioning of a subtropical coastal ecosystem: subsidies for integrated management) is a multi-disciplinary program of biodiversity assessment of a small bay in Sao Paulo coast (Brazil). This paper discuss the issues involved in establishing a local spatial data infrastructure (SDI) developed to allow access, model and sharing of spatial data within such collaborative and multidisciplinary research project context.