Mapping the Response to BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Newsletter Date: 
03/14/2011

Oil Spill Photo

The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) Gulf Response is an online mapping tool that provides you with up-to-date information about the spill response effort in the Gulf of Mexico. Developed by NOAA with the U.S. EPA, Coast Guard, and the Department of Interior, this site offers a visual and centralized means of accessing spill response information. It represents the federal government's commitment to providing clear and transparent information on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill.

The tool integrates the latest response data related to the oil spill, such as scientific samples and information on wildlife and other Gulf Coast resources into one customizable, interactive map. ERMA Gulf Response also integrates real-time information such as weather conditions, tide and currents, and vessel locations.

ERMA Gulf Response is the public version of ERMA developed by NOAA and the University of New Hampshire's Coastal Response Research Center. ERMA was designed to facilitate communication and coordination among a variety of users—from federal, state, and local responders to local community leaders and the public. Click the map below to use the tool yourself and see both current and historical data about the oil spill, as well as shipping information, past fishery closures, and locations where responders are still working.

Oil Spill Map

USING THIS TOOL

  • After clicking on the interactive map above, you'll see current information about oiled beaches and historical information about where the oil spread across the water over time.
  • To see other popular collections of information, click on the "Zoom" tab in the upper right-hand corner of the site. These are pre-packaged, popular views of the data available in the system.
  • You can see other information displayed on the map by clicking on the "Layers" tab and selecting other layer check boxes in the area to the right of the map.
  • Want to know more about what's being displayed on the map? Click the "Legends" Tab to see the legend information for the currently drawn layers.
  • Click the "Help" tab to find out more about the tools.

WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DATA YOU'RE SEEING IN THE TOOL?

Click on any layer name in the table of contents (on the right side of the window) and a short description (Metadata Lite) will appear. Click on the "Full Metadata" link in this pop-up to view the full technical description of each data set.

INFORMATION QUALITY

This site was constructed for the purpose of presenting to the public response-relevant data in the affected region of the Gulf of Mexico relative to the Deepwater Horizon/Mississippi Canyon 252/BP oil spill.

For the purpose of timely release, data contained within this site have undergone a limited Quality Assurance review; however, the data have not yet undergone final verification. Users of these data should refer to the original sources to review the limitations of the data from individual studies and to check for accuracy.

The data provided through this tool has been cleared for release through the Incident Command Structure's Joint Information Command.