SIMPLIFYING SITUATIONAL AWARENESS Using ArcGIS Mobile to coordinate oil spill response and survey activities By Monica pratt, ArcUser Editor Response to the Deepwater Horizon incident marked the most extensive use of mobile GIS for a disaster. Response to the Deepwater Horizon incident, the largest oil spill in United States history, was aided by the most extensive deployment of field GIS for any disaster. For the first time, responders using ArcGIS Mobile had one simplified process that provided bidirectional situational awareness to all responding agencies in near real time. On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig, under lease to BP p.l.c., killed 11 platform workers, and sank the platform, leaving the Macondo well gushing oil from the seafloor. The well, located approximately 41 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, leaked an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil before the wellhead was capped. An Immediate Threat The shorelines of the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico—Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—were vulnerable to the effects of the growing oil slick. The speed of wind and ocean currents, the type of oil spilled, and temperature can affect the rate at which oil spreads. However, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration, under most conditions within minutes or hours, even very heavy oil can spread until it is "as thin as a coat of paint on the wall." The effects of an oil spill on the environment depend not only on how much and 30 ArcUser Fall 2010 where oil was spilled and how far it has spread but also on what kind of oil was spilled. This spill involved crude oil, which can cause long-term contamination to intertidal areas and can severely impact waterfowl and mammals. Shoreline habitat, fisheries, and wildlife in states bordering the Gulf of Mexico were immediately threatened by the spill. Previous accidental oil releases in the Gulf have directly impacted blue crabs, squid, shrimp, and other commercially important aquatic life as well as wildlife that can be adversely affected by direct contact with oil. Populations of some wildlife species in the area were under pressure before the spill. For example, all five species of Gulf Coast sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered. To prevent the loss of all this year's hatchling sea turtles, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA-Fisheries), and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) jointly developed a plan that is relocating 700 sea turtle nests. Of the many species endangered by the oil spill, the situation of the Brown Pelican is particularly poignant. The Louisiana state bird, Pelecanus occidentalis had just made a remarkable comeback from near extinction as the result of widespread use of the pesticide DDT in the 1950s and 1960s and habitat pressure caused by the erosion of wetlands. In No- U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff used the application to document oiled birds and other species recovered. Oily pelicans were captured and transported to rehabilitation centers so wildlife biologists could work on them. vember 2009, it was taken off the endangered species list. After the spill, birds were again endangered by the volatile compounds in oil that can cause respiratory and digestive ailments, particularly in young pelicans. While dead and dying sea turtles and pelicans vividly illustrate the effects of direct contact with oil, other effects from oil spills are less apparent and more long term. Toxins in oil can cause genetic damage, liver disease, cancer, and reproductive and developmental conditions that impair fish and other animals. Soil in areas where plants die from exposure to oil can become destabilized, leading to erosion. Effects on animals can also result from compromised habitat, altered migration patterns, decreases in available food, and life cycle disruption. The spill also endangered the economic well-being of the human residents of these states, an area still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Oily coastal waters and beaches threatened two major industries in the region: www.esri.com