Week 4 Participation

Deepwater Horizon Animation

GIS allows for the mapping of patterns of destruction in order for responders to accurately allocate resources to affected areas. For the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill, GIS is being used to track the spread of oil in order to see where containment devices, such as booms, need to be placed. GIS can also be used to map water current patterns to help predict where the oil might be heading in order to take preventative measure before the oil reaches other areas. Fishery closures are also being mapped which shows how the fishing industry is being impacted by the oil spill. Since fishing is a major industry in the gulf, mapping the closures helps the public and government officials visualize what areas are being affected by the spill. These visual aids will help officials better analyze what economic impacts will occur from the closures. Assistance requests and insurance claims will need to be evaluated based on the areas affected by the oil and maps of the spill can assist with more efficient processing. Keeping the public informed of the cleanup progress is accomplished by posting information on the internet. Online mapping and data hosting by the EPA, Google, ESRI, and NOAA are helping to keep the public informed about ongoing issues such as fishery closures, spill extent, affected animal habitats, etc. Many GIS software programs have been created to help with modeling disasters. HAZUS was created for earthquakes, flooding, and hurricanes and has an option for estimating debris generation. An Area Contingency Plan (ACP) dataset could have been used to help oils spill responders with no previous knowledge of the area familiarize themselves and begin the response and recovery operations.