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Part III. Appendix 4: User Outreachrepresentations and animations of the data, within the context of the GIS, are also provided by thesystem. Environmental models, linked with the system, can access the environmental data for assimilation,validation, predictions, or comparative studies.An Internet based data collection and distribution system has been developed and incorporatedwithin the COASTMAP framework. This system allows GODAE and other global and basin scalemodel nowcasts and forecasts and real time observations to be accessed via the Internet. COAST-MAP also has the capability to collect data from local monitoring systems (i.e., monitoring equipmentoperated through direct connection such as serial, radio, cellular or modem communications).Data collected from the various online sources is subjected to quality control processes,archived alongside traditional data sets, and automatically distributed to support high resolutioncoastal modeling efforts.COASTMAP’s Internet based data collection and distribution system is composed of web, data, andmap server applications. Presently the system is configured for operation on three separate computersmaking the separation of server application functionality clear. The system is scalable andhence can be operated in a variety of multi-server/platform configurations. These might includeoperation of all server applications (i.e., web, data and map) on one PC or simultaneous operationof multiple data and map servers (each operating on their own platform) on a networked systemwith operations coordinated by the web server. To communicate with each other the web, data, andmap servers require only a communication path utilizing TCP/IP protocol. This arrangement allowsthe servers to be located in different geographic locations and even on different network domains.Multiple map and/or data server configurations offer increased flexibility and improved efficiencywhen downloading and accessing large volumes of information. Such scalability allows forfuture expansion of the existing system and application to large-scale systems without sacrificingefficiency. For example, one might expect access to environmental data from additional data sourcesto occur in the near future thus increasing the bandwidth and processing time required by thesingle data server presently in operation. Additional data servers would allow the tasks performedby the data server application to be divided amongst two (or more) data servers, thereby reducingbandwidth and processing requirements for each individual server.COASTMAP and its associated Internet server applications (i.e., web, map and data servers) arepresently operational for Narragansett Bay and adjacent Rhode Island coastal waters (SouthernNew England Bight). In the present application the system provides access to real time data collectedby the NOAA PORTS system, the RI Road Weather Information System (RI RWIS), and a networkof water quality monitoring buoys distributed throughout Narragansett Bay. In addition thesystem allows access to nowcasts and forecasts from the NOAA East Coast, Coastal Ocean ForecastingSystem (COFS) and the National Weather Service’s Extra-tropical Storm Surge (ETSS) model.270