GIS Applications for Oil Spill Prevention and Response in California
Judd Muskat
Abstract
The Office of Spill
Prevention and Response (OSPR) is within the California Department of Fish and
Game (DFG). DFG is the lead State
agency charged with oil spill prevention and response within California's
marine environment. The OSPR Administrator has substantial authority to direct
spill response, cleanup, and natural resource damage assessment activities. GIS
applications include resource assessment, contingency planning, data
integration and analysis. This paper
will show how GIS technology is applied as a tool for oil spill preparedness,
during an emergency response, and an aid for quantifying natural resource
damage.
The Office of Spill Prevention
and Response (OSPR) was born out of legislation resulting from the grounding of
the tank vessel “Exxon Valdez” in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill
Prevention and Response Act of 1990 established OSPR. Both a spill prevention and a spill response organization, OSPR
retains the Department of Fish and Game's public trustee and custodial
responsibility for protecting and managing the State's fish, wildlife, and
plants. (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/Ospr/index.html).
OSPR’s Scientific Unit was
first to use GIS. A UNIX workstation
was employed, to have readily available current inventory maps of California’s
coastal and marine resources. The OSPR
GIS library was initially populated with existing biological resource GIS
coverages from DFG’s Natural Heritage and Wildlife Management Divisions, and
the CA State Lands Commission. A
subscription to the Stephen P. Teale Data Center GIS library provided basic
infrastructure, hydrographic, geopolitical boundary and various other statewide
layers. OSPR currently participates in
several GIS data sharing consortiums such as the Ventura County Pipeline
Workgroup and the Channel Islands Regional GIS. The OSPR GIS library also contains statewide USGS 1:24,000
topographic quadrangle maps, NOAA’s west coast nautical charts, and statewide
SpotView 10 meter panchromatic imagery.
Some GIS datasets in the OSPR library that are specific to preparedness
and response include the shoreline Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI)
created jointly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) (http://spo.nos.noaa.gov/projects/esi/esiintro.html),
and a GIS layer of coastal sensitive sites from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
statewide Area Contingency Plans.
OSPR maintains a GIS field
local area network consisting of laptop computers and peripherals. This mobile GIS lan is deployed from
Sacramento during an emergency response.
The GIS field network is windows NT based and uses primarily ArcView GIS
and it’s extensions. Global Positioning
System (GPS) receivers and digital cameras are commonly used during field data
collection. Updated maps of resources
at risk, wildlife stranding locations, and the extent of shoreline oiling are
generated at least daily for both the Incident Command and for press and public
briefings. After the emergency response
is over the GIS data is then post processed, interpreted, collated and assembled
into an ArcView Project for input into the formal Natural Resource Damage
Assessment (NRDA).
The United States Coast
Guard maintains a statewide set of oil spill Area Contingency Plans (ACP). The ACP lists and depicts environmentally
sensitive sites, including a description of the site, a specific site
protection strategy and specific contact information. A GIS database of ACP sensitive sites in CA is a work in
progress. The GIS database will
eventually contain all of the California ACP sensitive site information. Federal Law mandates that the area
contingency plans be tested at a regular interval. GIS products are routinely used at drills and exercises for
training purposes.
An example of how GIS has
been used for contingency planning is a study of vessel traffic patterns and
shipping safety issues through the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
(MBNMS). In a series of workshops
attended by Agencies, Environmentalists, Politicians, and the public, GIS maps
and real time monitor displays were used to visualize and analyze current
traffic patterns through the sanctuary.
An alternative to the current Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) was
developed at these workshops, then presented to the United Nations
International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The new TSS moves tanker traffic further off shore where they are less
of an immediate threat to the MBNMS the CA coastline. The IMO gave final
approval to the shipping lane change at a meeting in London in May, 2000
During an emergency response
the Incident Command System (ICS) is employed for organization and management
of the total response. The nature of
ICS is that the organization will “ramp up” as the incident unfolds. A small response may require no GIS field
deployment other that a Biologist or Game Warden with a GPS receiver, a
sampling kit, a camera and a notebook.
A large response involves several dedicated GIS personnel with full GIS
capabilities including computer workstations, “E” size plotter, video
projector, etc. GIS workstations are
deployed in the command center where data is input as it comes in from the
field. Incoming data are downloaded
from a GPS receiver, or may be transcribed from field notebooks or digitized
from paper maps After the field data
are digitized or automated into the GIS, the new data can then be integrated
with data from our GIS spatial data library.
Map products are generated and a portable projector is used for real time
large wall size displays.
Shoreline Cleanup Assessment
Teams (SCAT) reconnoiter segments of the coastline to determine the amount and
type of oiling present, and to recommend to the Incident Command a strategy for
cleanup. The data is captured on a paper
form in the field and GPS coordinates are acquired. The data are entered into the GIS when the SCAT team returns to
the command post.
Airborne observation teams
are used to record the progress of the slick, and to document marine or coastal
species that are either in immediate danger or already impacted. The aircraft transects are captured via GPS,
and waypoints are marked for key observations.
These data are downloaded into the GIS at the command center after each
overflight. The updated extent,
condition and orientation of the slick are recorded then displayed. For wildlife observations, an ad hoc grid
map of the survey area is generated prior to takeoff. As the flight progresses, the lead observer is assigning each
grid cell a relative value for resources at risk (high, medium, or low). This relative risk value is based on the
numbers and species of seabirds or mammals seen in each cell. Waypoints are marked when significant
observations are made. The grid cell
values and the coordinate data are relayed to the GIS Specialist via radio or
cell phone. As the data are entered
into the GIS maps are generated for the Incident Command. The grid data is displayed using red for
high risk areas and blue for low risk areas.
This gives the Incident Command a “quick look” visual to aid them with
response strategy decisions.
Wildlife collection teams
are dispatched based on feedback from the aerial observers, the SCAT teams,
cleanup crews, or calls from the general public. These reported locations are used to make maps that can be used
to guide the wildlife collection teams.
The collection teams gather GPS waypoints at collection sites where
oiled wildlife or carcasses are collected.
Additional GIS attribute data are generated from field notebooks and
again at the wildlife intake center.
All of the collected animals are logged in and tracked in the GIS by a
unique intake number.
During the course of a spill
response many types of samples are collected for various purposes. GPS coordinates of field sampling locations
are input into the GIS. The collection
points along with the time and date of collection are thusly preserved in a
shapefile format. Sampling locations
can then be displayed by attribute (matrix type, date and time) in real time
and sampling missions can be planned while viewing these data. Maps and
displays can be generated regularly for briefing purposes.
After the emergency response
is over, the damage assessment begins.
GIS products that are generated include the extent of shoreline oiling,
and the degree of oiling for each shoreline type, the distribution of wildlife
strandings, the location of all samples collected, or the results of
fingerprint analysis for each analyzed sample.
Many times aerial
photographs are acquired during the response or shortly thereafter. Images are acquired in stereo pairs in both
natural color and color infra-red.
These images are analyzed, digitized, georeferenced, and projected. Land use type and extent of damaged habitat
are examples of the type of data that have been generated from aerial
photographs. The final GIS data sets
are assembled into an ArcView project and presented to the responsible party at
settlement talks as the basis for damage claims and negotiations.
GIS technology is imbedded
in oil spill prevention and response in California. Initially used for biological resource assessment GIS has proven
to be an excellent data management and organizational tool that is now widely
utilized for drills, exercises, contingency planning, emergency response and
for natural resource damage assessment.
CA Dept of Fish and Game
Office Of Spill
Prevention and Response
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244
Telephone (916) 324-3411
Fax (916) 324-8829
e-mail jmuskat@dfg.ca.gov