GIS maps shoreline sensitivity to oil spills

The Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) is a widely used system for ranking and classifying shoreline sensitivity based on characteristics such as degree of wave energy, potential penetration of oil into the substrate, and natural oil retention times of the shore type. This type of information is crucial to mitigate the potential impact of an oil spill.

With increased offshore energy exploration and development activities in the eastern Mediterranean, shorelines in this region are increasingly at risk of exposure to oil spills and other incidents. The challenges of security and accessibility in these countries makes traditional approaches of aerial and ground surveys difficult, particularly for the considerable length of these Mediterranean shorelines.

CSA GS has developed a technique to acquire, examine, and interpret high-resolution, georeferenced satellite imagery and assign ESI Shore Types to digital shoreline segments in GIS. The technique can be applied to any shoreline in the world for which an understanding of coastal environments is of interest.