Spatial data of oil and gas pads and access roads on the Colorado Plateau, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico
Dates
Publication Date
2023-12-06
Start Date
1900-01-01
End Date
2016-12-31
Citation
Villarreal, M.L., Waller, E.K., Chambers, S.N., Duane, O.M., Duniway, M.C., and Tyree, G., 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.
Summary
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 [...]
Summary
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.
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SWEDR roads and pads.xml Original FGDC Metadata
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35.79 KB
application/fgdc+xml
Pads and Roads data.zip
296.91 MB
application/zip
Purpose
The purpose of this database is to provide geospatial information to support research and management of oil and gas development on the Colorado Plateau region. These data can be used for various geographic assessments, including estimating effects of development on surface and groundwater resources, estimating potential direct and indirect effects of energy development on terrestrial ecosystems, assessing site potential and informing reclamation decisions in dryland systems, and analyzing different development scenarios and management alternatives.
