Emergency Oil Spill Response: Data Collection Automation, and Dissemination

ABSTRACT The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Office Spill Prevention Response (OSPR) has employed Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for oil spill planning response since the early 1990's, adding remote sensing tools to mix by turn Century. Discussed herein are OSPR's current smartphone tablet-based field data collection applications. We use an off-the-shelf tool pre-response protection strategy customized developed in-house Sea Otter Surveys, Search Collection Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT). benefits automated include omission transcription errors during manual input streamlined processing. This results in accurate timely information delivered responders, thus enhancing their capability informed decision making. OSPR uses National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Environmental Management Application® (ERMA), a web-based GIS viewer as Common Operational Picture (COP) dissemination throughout incident community event, post emergency cooperative Natural Resource Damage (NRDA). also ERMA uploading significant layers from U.S Coast Guard's (USCG) six Area Contingency Plans (ACP) coastal inland waters state with higher risk spill. These freely downloadable platform. In Summer/Fall 2019 at Cymric Oil Field Kern County, California, over 1,000,000 gallons oil, mud steam seeped into dry stream bed several “surface expressions”. Direct access site was not permitted Health Safety concerns. used small Unmanned Aerial (sUAS, aka drone) equipped standard high definition (HD) camera thermal infrared SCAT reconnaissance, resources evaluations, regularly scheduled mapping missions overall situational awareness.