Oil Spills
During an oil spill in coastal waters, OR&R's role is to provide scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard officers in charge of response operations. In addition to spill response software and mapping tools, OR&R provides standard techniques and publishes guidelines for observing oil, assessing shoreline impact, and evaluating accepted cleanup technologies.
Students and teachers can find a variety of oil spill-related educational resources in our Education section.
For stories, news, and updates about current, notable, and historical oil spills, please refer to our Media page.
To better prepare response communities for oil spills, OR&R develops several software and map tools for spill response and planning. These include GNOME, a trajectory forecasting tool; ADIOS, an oil weathering model; Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps, that identify vulnerable resources and habitats; and ERMA®, a GIS-based tool that consolidates key response data. |
OR&R also publishes many of its guidelines for emergency responders and planners as small, field-oriented job aids. Find electronic versions of these job aids along with other oil spill response publications here, including Seafood Safety After an Oil Spill, the Shoreline Assessment Manual, and the FOSC's Guide to NOAA Scientific Support. |