Delaware Bay 2014 ESI Management Boundaries for Oil Spill Sensitivity

Vector polygons represent management boundaries for artificial reefs, parks, and wildlife refuges in the Delaware Bay region. The data characterize coastal environments by their sensitivity to oil spills, covering shoreline habitats, biological resources, and human-use resources. This dataset was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Map protected area boundaries for conservation planning based on the listed management areas.
• Model potential oil spill impacts on coastal resources based on Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) characterization.
• Analyze spatial overlap between human-use resources and sensitive habitats based on the described data layers.

Strengths

• Data is part of a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework for oil spill response.
• Covers a specific geographic region (Delaware/New Jersey/Pennsylvania) with defined management categories.
• Last updated metadata indicates ongoing maintenance as of March 2026.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary file format is PDF, which may complicate direct geospatial analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely compiled from government and conservation organization sources for the ESI program.

Time Range

Referenced year is 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:27:36.621680; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Delaware Bay region covering Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.