Abstract

ESI INDEX TO OIL SPILL ON COLOMBIAN CARIBEBAN LITTORAL
Track: Environmental Management
Authors: Andres Felipe Carvajal Diaz, Jose Aljure Munoz, Fernando Afanador Franco

In this research Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps were made due to oil spill according to the NOAA's methodology, using remote sensing techniques and spatial analysis of information in GIS (selection, classification and display based on attributes) to an area located on the Colombian Caribbean littoral (Bocas de Ceniza to Punta Barú) as requirement for the environmental plan of oil exploration offshore. The sensibility of the coastal border was classified in a range understood among 1(less sensibility) and 10 (highest sensibility). In the study area were found ESI1, ESI2, ESI3, ESI7, ESI9 and ESI10 classifications. The information of ESI in GIS environment is a technical tool of decision support inside the contingency plans, applicable to other coastal environments, especially to safeguard the human life and to mitigate the impacts of the oil spill over the coast.