Oil Animation Exercise

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Animation Sequence

Link below:
http://students.uwf.edu/rgj1/Oil%20Animation/RGJ-OilAnimation061310.avi

GIS Disaster Response in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The role of GIS in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has played a crucial role. When a disaster such as this has occurred, time and information is urgently needed. Time is something that can't be changed but information can. This is where GIS has been a tremendous help. In the initial stages after the disaster occurred, the need for organization was great. Thad Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard was named as Incident Commander to develop this organization. It is assumed by this observer that the Incident Commander developed teams to respond to the disaster. One of teams of first responders is undoubtedly the GIS team. With maps being a universal way of communicating, the GIS team was tasked with creating maps portraying the size and projected movement of the oil spill. This type of information is critical to prepare for the disaster. Remote Sensing is a valuable tool that was used in conjunction with on the water teams to help give some scope to the size of the spill and growth. This information has been supplied to the appropriate agencies to develop a projected landfall track of the spill. This is necessary to the Incident Command and other government officials to make judgments on where to concentrate available resources.

GIS products have not been limited to maps, but graphs, tables and other written materials too. This information has allowed placement of booms and construction of barriers in efforts to prevent damage to the sensitive shoreline. In addition, this information has been a tool in planning with the mobilization of people and boats for skimming and beach clean-up operations.

In places where the damage has already occurred, the GIS team has played a key role by measuring the extent of the damage. This has helped land managers, property owners and government officials in dispatching available resources to try and mitigate further damage to beaches, wetlands, wildlife, fish and residents of the Gulf coast. This information is also vital in determining an actual cost of this disaster.  This cost is rising until the time the oil well is capped and final damage assessments are determined.

As this brief narrative states GIS is a vital element in this oil spill disaster response. GIS will continue to be an important factor in monitoring the movement of the spill, damage assessment and also in the recovery process for years (unfortunately) to come.