NOAA's Map of the Month: Data Tools for Marine Pollution

Twelve Maps from NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration Showing Where We Work and What We Do.

Satellite image of a hurricane moving across the East Coast of the United States (NOAA).
Logo for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Map of the Month

started in October of 2019 as an effort to showcase the spatial data tools that NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) experts use to prepare for, respond to, and help restore the environment after events like oil spills, hazardous waste pollution, and marine debris.

Each month we post a map online, describing what it is and why it is important, to share our work with the public.

Cutting-Edge Data Tools for Marine Pollution

The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is an online mapping tool that integrates both static and real-time data, such as ship locations, weather, and ocean currents, in a centralized, easy-to-use format for responders and decision makers.

Data Integration Visualization Exploration and Reporting (DIVER) is a massive data warehouse that allows users to search and download a broad array of environmental data.


October 2019 - Hurricane Dorian

This map shows the path and wind speeds of Hurricane Dorian as it moved up the East Coast. Dorian devastated the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane on Sept. 2-3, but slowed as it made landfall at North Carolina on Sept. 6 — fluctuating between a Category 1 and Category 2 hurricane.  

The red line and points along it track the strongest part of the storm, and the white circles represent water monitoring stations that provide a live feed of tides, currents, and water levels. These allow responders to anticipate and warn communities about dangerous storm surges. 


November 2019 - Dispersants Use in or near US Waters

This is a map of historical use of dispersants in or near U.S. Waters, with oil spill responses in blue and dispersant use in red.

Over the past 40 years, and over approximately 400,000‐reported spill incidents, NOAA is aware of only 27 incidents in the United States where dispersants have been utilized.

Controversy over dispersant use may lead the public and policymakers to assume that they are commonly used. This map illustrates that dispersants are a rarely used tool.


A maps showing many oil spill responses across the United States with just a few instances where dispersants were used (NOAA).

December 2019 - Geographic Response Plan (GRP)s

This map shows the Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) for Oregon and Washington states.

GRPs are guides for actions during an oil spill response. These plans help Responders quickly act to protect areas of significant economic, cultural, and ecological value, minimizing negative impacts.

Users in ERMA can click on the GRP data and obtain response plan strategies including access points, boom placement locations, equipment needs, as well as links to the full PDF documents.


January 2019 - Natural Resource Damage Assessment Settlements

​This map shows the locations of over 200 oil spill and hazardous waste sites where NOAA and our partners have recovered over $10.4 billion for restoration.

​​ Natural Resource Damage Assessment  (NRDA) is the process that federal, state, and tribal agencies use to assess the impacts of pollution, hold polluters accountable, and fund restoration.


February 2020 - Sediment and Tissue Chemistry Data

This map shows sampling locations throughout the Pacific Northwest where sediment, water and animal tissue were analyzed for specific contaminants.  

These data come from 355 separate studies conducted by Federal, State, Local and non-governmental organizations and represent sampling done over 48 years at 11,748 stations. 

This work informs assessment and restoration efforts in places including the Lower Duwamish River, Portland Harbor, and Commencement Bay. 


March 2020 - Marine Debris Clearinghouse

This map demonstrates the compatibility of ERMA with other applications, in this case the  NOAA Marine Debris  Clearinghouse.  

The multi-colored points represent different project type categories such as marine debris removal, prevention, and emergency response locations. By clicking on the individual colored dots you can see information about the specific project.


April 2020 - Deepwater Horizon Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico

NOAA’s DIVER application was created to organize millions of assessment data records, and is now used to manage restoration projects and share data with the public.

There are currently more than 175 restoration projects underway with more to come. By using DIVER Explorer, people can filter for resources they care about, including projects benefiting sea turtles or oysters, or filter by state to see what’s happening close to home. 

 Information on restoration projects that are managed in DIVER  is also available for visualization in Gulf of Mexico ERMA.

May 2020 - Remote Sensing of Oil Thickness

Scientists are researching new ways to remotely detect and measure the thickness of oil on the oceans.

This ERMA map shows the mash-up of satellite, airplane, and drone (UAS) imagery and paired with measurements taken by boats on the water.

Satellite (Aster, Radarsat-2, and Worldview 2) image classifications (shades of green) represent thickness measurements from far above the earth, while UAS imagery is overlain with UAS classification (yellow), ship-board photography (red kites and inset) and in situ thickness measurements (triangles). 

The results of this research could help responders identify thick oil quickly and more efficiently than ever before.

June 2020 - A Tiny Tutorial For ERMA

While The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is an online mapping tool frequently used by scientists and emergency responders, much of ERMA’s data are public and accessible to people from all walks of life. 

OR&R experts recently teamed up with NOAA environmental educators to create a Tiny Tutorial, which is a step-by-step guide explaining how to use ERMA.

July 2020 - Hurricanes

Every year hurricane season begins in June and ends in November. This map shows the track points for Hurricanes Laura, Sally, Delta and Zeta in 2020.

Technology played an even more important role this year, as ERMA® data managers can work remotely to support on scene efforts through data streams.

To help ensure remote operations are possible, ERMA® is testing out the secure data transfer between partners to ensure data flow will happen seamlessly through remote table top exercises. 

August 2020 - A Closer Look at Natural Resource Management

This map showcases Hawaii’s unique marine environments, from beaches to offshore waters, and the animals that call these habitats home.

Marine Protected Areas (shown in turquoise) provide refuge for Essential Fish Habitats, corals, and even sea turtle nesting sites.

This ERMA map displays how NOAA’s OR&R curates datasets from a range of sources into a common operating picture. This one-stop-shop is critical to guiding decision makers in the event of an emergency (like an oil spill or tsunami) so they can access data quickly and efficiently. 

September 2020 - Hurricane Laura’s Aftermath

OR&R used ERMA as a common operational picture and data resource for responders as Hurricane Laura came crashing into the shores of Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas on Aug. 27, as a Category 4 storm. 

While there was substantial destruction of property that created many small spills and approximately 8 million cubic yards of debris.

ERMA is being used to visualize debris target locations and ERMA’s data dashboards help track clean up progress by displaying background information, photos of the target locations, and counts of the targets in each of the stages of remediation.

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Header Photo

Nasa Earth Observatory