Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Atlas: West Peninsular Florida Volume 1 (NODC Accession 0006377)

This data set comprises the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps in Portable Document Format (.PDF) for the shoreline of West Peninsular Florida (to encompass the coastal areas from the Apalachee Bay to Sarasota Bay, Florida). ESI data characterize coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats; sensitive biological resources; and human-use resources. This Atlas was compiled from geographical and biological data with multiple dates, mostly from the 1990s; the intertidal habitats were mapped during aerial and ground surveys conducted in June, 1993, and biological and human-use resources data were compiled by regional biologists in 1995. The dates for the original data and methodology are completely documented in within the included FGDC metadata file "METADATA.PDF" and document "INTRO.PDF".