Political and Jurisdictional Features for the St. Marys River 2021 ESI

Vector polygons, lines, and points represent political human-use resources for the Great Lakes St. Marys River System. These data, part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, characterize the area's sensitivity to oil spills. The study area spans from east of Monocle Lake to the headwaters of Lake Huron.

Use Cases

• Mapping jurisdictional boundaries for environmental regulation based on the international boundary and tribal lands data.
• Planning emergency response routes based on the locations of coast guard stations.
• Assessing human-use resource vulnerability for oil spill contingency plans based on the ESI framework.

Strengths

• Data is structured within a geodatabase with related attribute tables (SOC_DAT, SOURCES) for detailed metadata.
• Part of a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework for systematic coastal characterization.
• Covers a specific, defined study area from Monocle Lake to Lake Huron.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is delivered in PDF format, which is not ideal for direct geospatial analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely compiled from administrative and jurisdictional sources for the ESI program.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:23:20.454634; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Lakes St. Marys River System, from east of Monocle Lake, south of Iroquois Island, to the headwaters of Lake Huron.