Spatial Extent of Data
USGS Data Source
ISO 19115 Topic Category
Place Keywords
Spatial data of oil and gas pads and access roads on the Colorado Plateau, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico
This data release contains spatial data on the location, number, size and extent of energy-related surface disturbances on the Colorado Plateau of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico as of 2016. The database includes: 1) polygons of oil and gas pads generated from automated and manual classification of aerial imagery, and 2) polylines of roads derived from the U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefile, supplemented with additional oil and gas access roads digitized from aerial imagery. Pad polygons and road segments are attributed with a "spud year" date based on spud information from the nearest well point. Spudding is the process of beginning to drill a well in the oil and gas industry, and the spud year is a close approximation of when the access roads and pads were cleared for development. The spud year information can be used to develop a chronology of oil and gas surface disturbances across the study region. The remote sensing-based pad mapping captures bright soil of disturbed areas on active pads (not reclaimed areas or other features), and is likely an underestimate of the actual pad size in many areas. The remote sensing mapping methods may also capture areas of bright soils that are not part of a pad, especially in locations surrounded by very bright desert soils.
Author(s) |
Miguel Villarreal |
Publication Date | 2023-12-06 |
Beginning Date of Data | 1900-01-01 |
Ending Date of Data | 2016-12-31 |
Data Contact | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.5066/P966VO0N |
Citation | Villarreal, M., Waller, E.K., Chambers, S.N., Duane, O.J., Duniway, M.C., and Tyree, G.L., 2023, Spatial data of oil and gas pads and access roads on the Colorado Plateau, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P966VO0N. |
Metadata Contact | |
Metadata Date | 2023-12-06 |
Related Publication | There was no related primary publication associated with this data release. |
Citations of these data | No citations of these data are known at this time. |
Access | public |
License | http://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/ |
Harvest Date: 2024-04-27T14:49:57.432Z