Collaborating to Develop a Data Collection Tool for Shoreline Surveys

On Thursday, August 28, 2014, OR&R's Emergency Response Division responders, managers and developers (John Tarpley, Jordan Stout, Carl Childs, Michael Katz, and Glen Watabayashi) met with oil spill responders from the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Sacramento, California. The meeting kicked off a collaboration to develop a new handheld Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) data collection tool.

To be used on a mobile device such as an iPad, the new tool will integrate field data collection with GPS information in a state-of-the-art GIS and telecommunications system. When completed, this tool will greatly improve the speed and accuracy of field data collection during oil spills. Each organization has assigned personnel to a steering committee that will define the data standards, operational requirements, and development pathway. Initial plans are to deliver the new tool to the response community before the International Oil Spill Conference in 2017.

For more information, contact Carl.Childs@noaa.gov.

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People gathering oil samples along the Mississippi River.

OR&R responders gather oil samples as part of a SCAT operation along the west shore of the Mississippi River, following a 2008 vessel collision near New Orleans, Louisiana. Observations and data from SCAT surveys are critical to the decision-making process for shoreline cleanup at oil spills. (NOAA)

Last updated Monday, February 26, 2024 10:38pm PST