Great Lakes St. Clair/Detroit River System 2019 ESI Parks and Managed Areas

NOAA's 2019 Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data for the St. Clair/Detroit River System includes vector polygons, lines, and points representing parks and managed areas. The data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil, covering shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources. The study area includes portions of Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, and adjacent lands in southeastern Michigan.

Use Cases

• Mapping habitat restoration management areas based on point and polyline data.
• Analyzing the distribution of protected lands (e.g., national parks, wildlife refuges) based on polygon data.
• Assessing human-use resource vulnerability for oil spill response planning based on the ESI framework.
• Integrating spatial socio-economic data with biological resources for environmental impact studies.

Strengths

• Data is part of a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework for oil spill sensitivity.
• Includes multiple vector data types (polygons, lines, points) for different resource categories.
• Contains specific resource categories such as national forests, military installations, and nature conservancy lands.
• Managed by the authoritative source NOAA National Ocean Service.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from 2019; conditions may have changed.

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 22:25:58.706193; freshness should be verified.

Geography

St. Clair/Detroit River System in southeastern Michigan, including portions of Lakes Huron and Erie.