Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania 2014 ESI Shoreline Sensitivity Lines

2014 vector lines representing shoreline and coastal habitats for Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, classified by sensitivity to oil spills. The data characterize marine environments and wildlife by their oil spill vulnerability and are part of a larger Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) database. It was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil spill trajectory and impact based on shoreline sensitivity classification
• Prioritizing coastal protection resources based on habitat sensitivity data
• Integrating with biological and human-use data for comprehensive environmental risk assessment

Strengths

• Data is part of a larger, structured Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) database with related polygon and hydrography layers.
• Shoreline is classified according to a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index system for consistent analysis.
• Covers a specific three-state region (Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) along the Delaware Bay and River.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from 2014; freshness should be verified for current applications.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Classified according to the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) classification system.

Time Range

2014

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:23:00.391435; freshness should be verified

Geography

Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania shoreline and coastal habitats