NOAA's Shoreline Assessment Manual outlines methods you can use to plan and conduct shoreline assessment after an oil spill. You can incorporate your assessment results into your decision-making process for shoreline cleanup. This Shoreline Assessment Job Aid is a supplement to the manual. It contains visual examples of many of the terms you would use during shoreline assessments.

View and Print the Job Aid: Shoreline Assessment Job Aid [PDF, 12 MB], updated September 2014.

Order a Copy: We're sorry, but bound copies of the job aid are no longer being produced.
 

Use this job aid to find an introduction to shoreline assessment, beach profiles for sand and gravel beaches, and charts for visually estimating the percent coverage of spilled oil.

The job aid also includes photos showing examples in the following categories:

• Surface Oil Distribution - Percent Cover
• Surface Oiling Descriptors - Thickness
• Surface Oiling Descriptors - Type
• Subsurface Oiling Descriptors - Type
• Sediment Types
• Shoreline Types (by ESI Rank)
• Cleanup Methods

Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT): Here is an overview of SCAT, a simple and comprehensive way to perform a survey of an oiled shoreline.

Shoreline Assessment Manual: This manual outlines methods for conducting shoreline assessment and using the results to make cleanup decisions at oil spills.

Shoreline Assessment Forms: These are standard forms you can download, print out, and then use to record your observations during a shoreline survey following an oil spill. Different forms have been developed for different habitats and types of oiling (e.g., coastal, river, wetland, tarball oiling, etc.).

Job Aids for Spill Response: Learn more about the job aids that OR&R has created to help oil spill responders complete their response tasks.
 

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