Editing Oil spill (section)

==Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) mapping==
Environmental Sensitivity Indexes (ESI) are tools used to create Environmental Sensitivity Maps (ESM). ESM's are pre-planning tools used to identify sensitive areas and resources prior to an oil spill event in order to set priorities for protection and plan clean-up strategies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/maps-and-spatial-data/environmental-sensitivity-index-esi-maps.html|title=Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Maps|access-date=2010-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/ |title=NOAA's Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration |publisher=Response.restoration.noaa.gov |access-date=2010-06-16}}</ref> It is to date the most commonly used mapping tool for sensitive area plotting.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Jensen|first1=John R.|last2=Halls|first2=Joanne N.|last3=Michel|first3=Jacqueline|date=1998|title=A Systems Approach to Environmental Sensitivity lndex (ESI) Mapping for Oil Spill Contingency Planning and Response|journal=Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing|pages= 1003–1014}}</ref> The ESI has three components: A shoreline type ranking system, a biological resources section, and a human-use resource category.<ref name="NOAA 2002">NOAA (2002). Environmental Sensitivity Index Guidelines, version 3.0. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS OR&R 11. Seattle: Hazardous Response and Assessment Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 129p.</ref>

=== History and development ===
ESI is the most frequently used sensitivity mapping tool yet. It was first applied in 1979 in response to an oil-spill near Texas in the Gulf of Mexico.<ref name=":6" /> To this time, ESI maps were prepared merely days in advance of one's arrival to an oil spill location. ESMs used to be atlases, maps consisting of thousands of pages that could solely work with spills in the oceans. In the past 3 decades, this product has been transformed into a versatile online tool. This conversion allows sensitivity indexing to become more adaptable and in 1995 by the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)]] worked on the tool allowing ESI to extended maps to lakes, rivers, and estuary shoreline types.<ref name="NOAA 2002"/> ESI maps have since become integral to  collecting, synthesizing, and producing data which have previously never been accessible in digital formats. Especially in the United States, the tool has made impressive advancements in developing tidal bay protection strategies, collecting seasonal information and generally in the modelling of sensitive areas.<ref name=":6" /> Together with [[Geographic information system|Geographic Information System Mapping (GIS)]], ESI integrates their techniques to successfully geographically reference the three different types of resources.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Maps and Data {{!}} response.restoration.noaa.gov|url=https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/resources/environmental-sensitivity-index-esi-maps|access-date=2021-05-29|website=response.restoration.noaa.gov}}</ref>

=== Usage and application ===
The ESI depicts environmental stability, coastal resilience to maritime related catastrophes, and the configurations of a stress-response relationship between all things maritime.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Buckley|first=R.C.|date=1982|title=Environmental sensitivity mapping – what, why and how|journal=Minerals and the Environment|volume=4|issue=4|pages=151–155|doi=10.1007/BF02085976|bibcode=1982MinEn...4..151B |s2cid=129097590}}</ref> Created for ecological-related decision making, ESMs can accurately identify sensitive areas and habitats, clean-up responses, response measures and monitoring strategies for oil-spills.<ref>{{Cite book|last=van Bernem|first=Karl-Heinz|title=Models in Environmental Research|publisher=Springer|year=2001|pages=127–145|chapter=Chapter 7: Conceptual Models for Ecology-Related Decisions}}</ref> The maps allow experts from varying fields to come together and work efficiently during fast-paced response operations. 
The process of making an ESI atlas involves GIS technology. The steps involve, first zoning the area that is to be mapped, and secondly, a meeting with local and regional experts on the area and its resources.<ref name=":7">IPIECA, IMO, OGP. (2012). ''Sensitivity mapping for oil spill response'' (OGP Report Number 477).</ref> Following, all the shoreline types, biological, and human use resources need to be identified and their locations pinpointed. Once all this information is gathered, it then becomes digitized. In its digital format, classifications are set in place, tables are produced and local experts refine the product before it gets released.

ESI's current most common use is within contingency planning. After the maps are calculated and produced, the most sensitive areas get picked out and authenticated. These areas then go through a scrutinization process throughout which methods of protection and resource assessments are obtained.<ref name=":7" /> This in-depth research is then put back into the ESMs to develop their accuracy and allowing for tactical information to be stored in them as well. The finished maps are then used for drills and trainings for clean-up efficiency.<ref name=":7" /> Trainings also often help to update the maps and tweak certain flaws that might have occurred in the previous steps.

=== ESI Categories ===

====Shoreline type====
[[Shoreline]] type is classified by rank depending on how easy the target site would be to clean up, how long the oil would persist, and how sensitive the shoreline is.<ref>Gundlach, E.R. and M.O. Hayes (1978). Vulnerability of Coastal Environments to Oil Spill Impacts. Marine Technology Society. 12 (4): 18–27.</ref> The ranking system works on a 10-point scale where the higher the rank, the more sensitive a habitat or shore is. The coding system usually works in colour, where warm colours are used for the increasingly sensitive types and cooler colours are used for robust shores.<ref name=":7" /> For each navigable body of water, there is a feature classifying its sensitivity to oil. Shoreline type mapping codes a large range of ecological settings including [[Estuary|estuarine]], [[lacustrine]], and [[riverine]] environments.<ref name=":6" /> Floating oil slicks put the shoreline at particular risk when they eventually come ashore, covering the [[Substrate (marine biology)|substrate]] with oil. The differing substrates between shoreline types vary in their response to oiling, and influence the type of cleanup that will be required to effectively decontaminate the shoreline. Hence ESI shoreline ranking helps committees identify which clean-up techniques are approved or detrimental the natural environment. The exposure the shoreline has to wave energy and tides, substrate type, and slope of the shoreline are also taken into account—in addition to biological productivity and sensitivity.<ref name="NOAA 2008">NOAA (2008). Introduction to Environmental Sensitivity Index maps. NOAA Technical Manual. Seattle: Hazardous Response and Assessment Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 56p.</ref> [[Mangroves]] and marshes tend to have higher ESI rankings due to the potentially long-lasting and damaging effects of both oil contamination and cleanup actions. Impermeable and exposed surfaces with high wave action are ranked lower due to the reflecting waves keeping oil from coming onshore, and the speed at which natural processes will remove the oil.

====Biological resources====
Within the biological resources, the ESI maps protected areas as well as those with bio-diverse importance. These are usually identified through the [[UNEP-WCMC]] Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool. There are varying types of coastal habitats and ecosystems and thus also many endangered species that need to be considered when looking at affected areas post oil spills. The habitats of plants and animals that may be at risk from oil spills are referred to as "elements" and are divided by functional group. Further classification divides each element into species groups with similar life histories and behaviors relative to their vulnerability to oil spills. There are eight element groups: birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, habitats and plants, wetlands, and marine mammals and terrestrial mammals. Element groups are further divided into sub-groups, for example, the ‘marine mammals’ element group is divided into [[dolphin]]s, manatees, [[pinnipeds]] (seals, sea lions & walruses), [[polar bear]]s, [[sea otter]]s and [[whale]]s.<ref name="NOAA 2002" /><ref name="NOAA 2008" /> Necessary when ranking and selecting species is their vulnerability to the oil spills themselves. This not only includes their reactions to such events but also their fragility, the scale of large clusters of animals, whether special life stages occur ashore, and whether any present species is threatened, endangered or rare.<ref name="IPIECA 1994">[[International Maritime Organization|IMO]]/[[IPIECA]] (1994). Sensitivity Mapping for Oil Spill Response. International Maritime Organization/ International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association Report Series, Volume 1. 22p.</ref> The way in which the biological resources are mapped is through symbols representing the species, and polygons and lines to map out the special extent of the species.<ref name=":8">IPIECA, IMO (1994). ''Sensitivity Mapping for Oil Spill Response'', (IMO/IPIECA report series). Volume 1, p.28</ref> The symbols also have the ability to identify the most vulnerable of a species life stages, such as the [[Moulting|molting]], nesting, hatching or migration patterns. This allows for more accurate response plans during those given periods. There is also a division for sub-tidal habitats which are equally important to coastal biodiversity including kelp, coral reefs and sea beds which are not commonly mapped within the shoreline ESI type.<ref name=":8" />

====Human-use resources====
Human-use resources are also often referred to as socio-economic features, which map inanimate resources that have the potential to be directly impacted by oil pollution. Human-use resources that are mapped within the ESI will have socio-economic repercussions to an oil spill. These resources are divided into four major classifications: [[archaeological]] importance or cultural resource site, high-use recreational areas or shoreline access points, important protected management areas, and resource origins.<ref name="NOAA 2002" /><ref name="IPIECA 1994" /> Some examples include airports, diving sites, popular beach sites, marinas, hotels, factories, natural reserves or marine sanctuaries. When mapped, the human-use resources the need protecting must be certified by a local or regional policy maker.<ref name=":7" /> These resources are often extremely vulnerable to seasonal changes due to ex. fishing and tourism. For this category there are also a set of symbols available to demonstrate their importance on ESMs.