SCAT Mobile Data Collection - California's Ongoing Experience

Abstract

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) since its inception in 1991 has been collecting SCAT (Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique) data. OSPR, collects SCAT data based upon the SCAT forms developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Processing SCAT paper forms is a time consuming process which includes manual transcription which can be prone to error. Beginning in 2009, OSPR began using an electronic data collection application from EPDS called, Pocket SCAT®. OSPR had scheduled exercises and our last maintenance and upgrade purchase was in 2011. Despite this, when the Refugio Spill occurred on May 19th 2015; because of ongoing issues with Pocket SCAT® and equipment, the decision was made to revert back to using paper forms. SCAT data collection and processing, once again was a time consuming process and error prone. OSPR's experience with SCAT paper forms, Pocket SCAT®, Refugio and other spills, and its recent in-house development and completion of an iOS Wildlife Recovery app culminated into the decision to create its own iOS SCAT app called, “SCATalogue”. This poster presents SCATalogue's current status, features, design considerations, inherent technology limitations and their mitigations, and envisioned future revisions. Presented herein, also a diagram of SCATalogue's place in the greater SCAT workflow such as the backend database, integration with the Common Operational Picture (COP), and other applications and technologies used to facilitate integration.