GL_LAKE_ONTARIO_2023 ESI: Political and Jurisdictional Features for Oil Spill Sensitivity

2023 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration characterizes human-use resources for oil spill sensitivity in the Lake Ontario system. The dataset contains vector points and lines depicting features such as coast guard units and the international border. It covers the U.S. portion of Lake Ontario, including specific islands and bays in New York.

Use Cases

• Mapping jurisdictional boundaries and coast guard locations for emergency response planning based on political resource data.
• Analyzing human-use resource distribution for environmental sensitivity assessments based on the ESI framework.
• Integrating political and jurisdictional data with biological and shoreline layers for comprehensive spill impact modeling.

Strengths

• Data is part of a structured Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) geodatabase with related attribute tables (SOC_DAT, SOURCES).
• Spatial coverage is explicitly defined, listing 12 islands and 12 major bays within the U.S. portion of Lake Ontario.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely gathered through governmental mapping and jurisdictional surveys.

Time Range

2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 22:28:22.449611; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United States portion of Lake Ontario, including specified islands and bays in New York State.