GL StClair Detroit River 2019 ESI: Natural Hazard Polygons for Oil Spill Sensitivity

Vector polygons representing natural hazard areas, specifically flood hazard areas mapped as storm surge inundation zones, for the St. Clair and Detroit River system in southeastern Michigan. The data characterizes the marine and coastal environments by their sensitivity to spilled oil and is part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data for the Great Lakes region. It was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling storm surge flood risk for coastal infrastructure based on mapped inundation areas.
• Assessing environmental vulnerability to oil spills based on habitat sensitivity characterization.
• Planning coastal zone management and disaster response based on integrated natural hazard and biological resource data.
• Conducting spatial analysis of human-use resources in relation to identified hazard zones.

Strengths

• Data is part of a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework for oil spill response.
• Spatial data is designed to be used with related stand-alone attribute tables (SOC_DAT, SOURCES) for detailed analysis.
• Covers a specific, defined study area including Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary file format is listed as PDF, which may limit direct geospatial analysis without conversion.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely derived from geographic information system (GIS) analysis and mapping for environmental sensitivity.

Time Range

2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:32:04.580341; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Lakes - St. Clair / Detroit River System in southeastern Michigan and adjacent Canadian waters, including portions of Lakes Huron and Erie.