Refugio GNOME NRDA: Hindcast Model of Shoreline Oiling from 2015 Spill

May 19, 2015, a pipeline rupture near Refugio State Beach, California, released an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. This dataset is a NOAA GNOME modeled hindcast of particles of oil reaching the shoreline, created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to investigate impacts and determine restoration needs.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil dispersion and shoreline contamination based on the GNOME hindcast methodology.
• Assessing environmental damage for Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) based on the described investigation.
• Planning habitat restoration efforts based on the determination of restoration needs mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Modeled data for a specific, documented environmental incident on May 19, 2015.
• Produced by the authoritative National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
• Focuses on a defined geographic area near Refugio State Beach, California.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is a model hindcast; accuracy depends on the GNOME model's parameters and inputs.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

NOAA GNOME (General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment) modeled hindcast of particles.

Time Range

Related to the May 19, 2015 oil spill event.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:24:26.162228; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Santa Barbara County, California, near Refugio State Beach and the Pacific Ocean.