NOAA OR&R Home / Oil Spill Aids

Here are tools and information for people dealing with spills of oil and petroleum products:

• Reports and Publications Case histories, training tools, briefing papers, and reports on spill response issues, in PDF format.
• Oil Spill Software Software you can download now, including GNOME, ADIOS 2, DOGS, the electronic ICS Forms, and SpillTools, and software for special purposes, such as TAP.
• The Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Project An introduction to our environmental sensitivity mapping program, and some sample documents.

Job Aids and Special Presentations

• Guided Tours How NOAA OR&R scientists and other experts respond to oil spills and chemical accidents.
• Spotlight on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Special 10th anniversary section (webposted 3/99).
• Oil Spills at the Water's Edges How oil affects creatures on the water surface and along the shore, including some student projects (webposted 8/23/02).
• Coral Reefs: Spills and Other Threats Coral biology, threats to coral, and how we can protect coral; documents, guided tour, and links. (webposted 7/10/01)
• Open Water Oil Identification Job Aid Online aid for assessing the character and extent of oil spilled on open water. (webposted 10/19/97)
• Shoreline Assessment Job Aid Online aid for people assessing oiled shorelines. (webposted 5/7/98)
• Shoreline Assessment Forms For recording observations during shoreline assessments.
• Dispersants: A Guided Tour Basic overview of this important oil spill countermeasure. (webposted 1/13/00)
• Dispersant Application Observer Job Aid Online aid for people observing the application of chemical dispersants to oil spilled on the water. (webposted 3/23/99)
• In-Situ Burning Special section on in-situ burning and burn monitoring. (webposted 5/3/99)
• SMART Special section on the SMART monitoring program for in-situ burning and dispersants. (webposted 3/4/99)
• Using Maps to Evaluate Environmental Tradeoffs Instructor's kit for an exercise using ESI maps for oil spill response. (webposted 7/28/99)
• Drift Card Study An exploratory study being conducted over the next two years to help us learn where floating pollutants might go, under different environmental conditions, if released from the south shores of Oahu. (webposted 1/27/03)
• ARTES Forms Forms used for managing the evaluation of products and technologies for oil spill response. (webposted 1/26/01)
• Selection Guide for Oil Spill Applied Technologies, Volume 1: Decision Making A guidance document designed to simplify the evaluation of response products and technologies. (webposted 5/14/03)
• Observer's Guide to Sea Ice Job aid for volunteers who report observations of ice conditions to authorities such as the U.S. Coast Guard. (webposted 6/7/01)

Biological Monitoring

• Summary Points: 10 Years of Intertidal Monitoring After the Exxon Valdez Spill A short summary of the main findings of NOAA biologists studying the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on intertidal shorelines in Prince William Sound.
• Prince William Sound: Ecosystem in Transition How did the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the response to the spill, affect living organisms and their habitats? All the facts aren't yet in, but here are some 1997 results and assessments from NOAA OR&R biologists conducting long-term monitoring.
• Prince William Sound: Our Changing Perspective on Recovery A 1999 update from NOAA biologists studying the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on the biological communities of Prince William Sound.

Training

Training Descriptions of upcoming spill response training sessions we will offer.

Other Relevant Sites

Historical Incidents Database Search this database for information about past oil spills, as well as chemical accidents (located on our Incident News website). (webposted 8/10/00)

Incident Command System/Unified Command (ICS/UC) Technical Assistance Document [NRT website; 476K PDF file] A product of the U.S. National Response Team (NRT), this document provides guidance to responders on the Incident Command System (ICS) organizational management concept for emergency response. Originally published in 1996, it has been revised to incorporate the lessons learned and issues identified by NRT member agencies during responses to major incidents since that time. It also includes new ideas to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of responses under the National Response System. (webposted 1/08/03)

ResponseLink A web-based communications system for incident responders. A username and password are required to log in to the system. (webposted 10/02/03)

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