Delaware Bay Terrestrial Mammal Sensitivity Data for Oil Spill Response

Delaware Bay and nearby lands and waters of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are covered by this geospatial dataset. It contains sensitive biological resource data for river otter, muskrat, and one endangered mammal, characterizing their distribution and sensitivity to oil spills. The data was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI).

Use Cases

• Modeling oil spill impact zones based on terrestrial mammal distribution polygons.
• Assessing seasonal habitat sensitivity for species like river otter and muskrat.
• Planning coastal zone management and conservation efforts for endangered mammal species.
• Integrating species abundance and life history data with spatial layers for environmental risk analysis.

Strengths

• Data includes specific species: river otter, muskrat, and one endangered mammal.
• Contains relational tables with species-specific attributes like abundance and seasonality.
• Covers a defined geographic region: Delaware Bay and parts of three U.S. states.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific Delaware Bay study area.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely compiled for the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) program to characterize sensitivity to spilled oil.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:20:44.550828; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Delaware Bay and nearby lands and waters of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.