In preparing a plan of oil spill handling, it is important for the company to obtain the information on the presence of all types of environmental component around the activity location, especially for them whose the working areas are located in the areas that are considered as a sensitive area. Environmental Sensitivity Index is an assessment of environmental value to identify sensitive areas and vulnerable resources, which are the impacts from several activities especially oil mining.
ESI is a multidiscipline approach, which covers remote sensing, geographic information system, biology, hydro-oceanography, social, economy, etc. Final result of ESI can be used to support the efforts of control, monitoring and emergency response in an area. Moreover, it can be used to find the accurate and quick methods to inform the level of environmental sensitivity, which is presented in the form of environmental sensitivity index spatial map.
Several methods in developing the parameters of ESI are taken from International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA), National Oceanic and Athmospheric Administration (NOAA), Sloan, etc.