Lake Erie Shoreline Sensitivity to Oil Spills, 2022

The Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data characterize the marine and coastal environments of Lake Erie by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The dataset, developed by NOAA, contains vector lines and polygons representing shorelines and intertidal habitats for the U.S. portion of Lake Erie, covering coastal Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Classification considers factors like wave exposure, shoreline slope, substrate type, and biological productivity.

Use Cases

• Modeling potential oil spill trajectories and impacts based on shoreline susceptibility classifications.
• Prioritizing coastal protection and cleanup resources based on habitat sensitivity scores.
• Assessing environmental risk for coastal development projects based on shoreline characteristics.
• Creating baseline maps for environmental monitoring and change detection in the Great Lakes region.

Strengths

• Based on the NOAA Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) classification system, a standardized framework.
• Covers the entire U.S. shoreline of Lake Erie, from the Michigan/Ohio to the New York/Canada border.
• Classifies habitats using multiple natural and biological factors mentioned in the description.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is provided in PDF format, which may limit machine-readability and analysis.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely derived from field surveys, aerial imagery, and existing geographic data, classified using the NOAA ESI system.

Time Range

2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:31:46.853068; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United States portion of Lake Erie, covering coastal Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.