St. Clair/Detroit River System Navigation and Marine Features for Oil Spill Sensitivity

2019 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration characterizes human-use resources for oil spill sensitivity in the St. Clair and Detroit River system. It contains vector polygons, lines, and points representing navigation and marine infrastructure, including ferry routes, boat ramps, marinas, and anchorages. The data is part of a larger Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) study covering shoreline habitats, biological resources, and human-use resources for the southeastern Michigan and western Lake Erie region.

Use Cases

• Mapping navigation infrastructure for emergency response planning based on listed features like ferry routes and marinas.
• Analyzing spatial distribution of marine access points based on data for boat ramps and anchorages.
• Integrating human-use data with biological sensitivity layers for comprehensive environmental risk assessment as described in the ESI framework.

Strengths

• Data is structured as vector polygons, lines, and points, allowing for spatial analysis.
• Includes specific resource types: ferry routes (polylines), boat ramps, marinas, ports (points), and anchorages (polygons).
• Part of a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) methodology for oil spill response.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely collected and compiled for the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) program.

Time Range

2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:28:51.007975; freshness should be verified.

Geography

St. Clair and Detroit River system, including southern Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, western Lake Erie, and adjacent lands in southeastern Michigan.