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Mapping Oil & Gas Data – A Focus on the FracTracker Mobile App
Fractracker Alliance focuses on mapping oil and gas data to inform on the impacts of the industry, offering resources through their website and a mobile app for tracking activity in the U.S. The app allows users to visualize wells, submit reports on local activity, and upload photos, thereby fostering community engagement and data collection. Their initiative aims to enhance public awareness and contribute to shaping a sustainable energy future.
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Mapping Oil & Gas Data – A Focus on the FracTracker Mobile App
- 1. Mapping Oil &Gas Data – A Focus on the FracTracker Mobile App By Samantha Malone, MPH, CPH Manager of Education, Communications, & Partnerships, FracTracker Alliance The Advocate’s Toolkit: Resources for Tracking the Harms of Fracking Halt The Harm Webinar • April 8, 2015
- 2. Outline • Who isFracTracker Alliance? • Mobile App Features & Tutorial • Case Study: Oil and Gas Development at Theodore Roosevelt National Park © 2014 Robert M. Donnan
- 3. About Us • OurMission: We share maps, data, and analyses to communicate impacts of the global oil and gas industry and inform actions that positively shape our energy future. • Our website, FracTracker.org, provides a variety of online oil and gas resources: • Articles • Analyses • Photos • Collaborative Projects • Maps: Static (paper or image file) and Dynamic (ArcGIS Online) • Raw Data
- 4. We look atoil and gas issues broadly Analysis of national data, March 2015
- 5. At the statelevel PA Shale Viewer Compressor stations, SkyTruth pit data, wells, permits, & violations
- 6. And more closelyat thematic and timely issues… • Addressing these data collection issues led us to develop a mobile app that tracks oil and gas activity in the U.S. • Available for iPhones and Androids • Download the app: fractracker.org/app
- 7. App Features See oiland gas wells near you on a map Submit oil and gas reports about nearby activity and issues Upload your oil and gas photos
- 8. Quick Walk Through Downloadthe app: fractracker.org/app Open the app on your phone. Select “allow location” as this with enable you to take full advantage of the app’s features. Fill in your name and email on the next screen (shown right) to get started. Tap “Save” 1 2 3
- 9. Start: O&G WellsNear You The start screen shows the U.S. oil & gas map. The blue dot is your location, with the number of counties by well in shades of blue. 4 5 Zoom in to explore wells and reports (in red) by region. If there are a lot of wells, you may need to zoom in quite close to see them individually
- 10. Legend Clicking on “Legend”in the top toolbar will show you what each dot or color on the map means. Unconventional wells are often “fracked” to stimulate production and/or directionally drilled. Citizen reports were submitted by users. 6
- 11. Explore a Site 7 Oncezoomed in on the map, tap on a dot to learn about the site. In the popup box, tap to see more details about that location, such as a well’s API number. Tap “Submit Report” in the bottom toolbar to add an observation of your own. 8 9 i
- 12. Submit Report Share observationsabout oil & gas activity near you through this form, including the issue, facility, & location. Upload photos, too! Change the location associated in this report (e.g. in case of poor reception in the field) by tapping “Add a different location.” Tap “Save” to submit. 10
- 13. Previous Submissions Once wehave reviewed your report, a red dot will appear on the oil & gas map based on the location you provided. Tap on “My Submissions” to view your previous reports & their statuses in the review queue. Share a report via social media by tapping “Share.” 11 12 13
- 14. Oil & gasdevelopment at Theodore Roosevelt National Park w/NPCA with FracTracker’s Mobile App • www.fractracker.org/app explore the map
- 15. Contact Information Samantha Malone,MPH, CPH Manager of Education, Communications, & Partnerships – FracTracker Alliance malone@fractracker.org 412-802-0273 www.fractracker.org
Editor's Notes
- #2 The FracTracker Alliance (www.fracTracker.org) currently provides online oil and gas (O&G) maps for 30 U.S. states with O&G activity, international pipelines, and even British Columbia wells. Maps are interpreted and contextualized by blogs, analyses, and photos. The primary data sources for these maps are regulatory and industrial. As a way to ground-truth such data points, FracTracker is conducting community-based data collection through the use of a new mobile app and volunteer field projects in order to quantify industry activities such as truck counts and train counting. This session will describe these ground-up approaches to data gathering, preliminary results, and barriers.
- #4 The FracTracker Alliance shares maps, data, and analyses to communicate impacts of the global oil and gas industry and informs actions that positively shape our energy future. We are a registered 501(c)3, with nine staff members and offices in PA, NY, OH, WV, and CA. FracTracker.org, launched in 2010, and now provides oil and gas maps for over 36 U.S. states with drilling activity. These maps may include drilled wells, violations, proximity to vulnerable populations, pipelines and proposals, waste disposal sites, sand mining operations, and more. Maps are interpreted and contextualized by accompanying blogs, data analyses, and photos.
- #5 Unconventional oil and gas drilling, also referred to as fracking, is occurring with greater frequency in the US – with over 1.1 million oil and gas wells currently in operation. 36 states are seeing some sort of activity, with ranging levels of intensity. Kern County in California, for example, has over 120,00 active wells – many of which are utilizing unconventional drilling technologies such as acidizing. To help understand the overall impacts, we will map and analyze national datasets. In this map we’re showing the number of organic farms currently operating near oil and gas activity
- #6 Some of our most valued maps are those showing state-level data. This one shows compressor stations based on data obtained through a right to know request by a collaborator GASP, pits that were crowdsourced using volunteers by SkyTruth, as well as violations, drilled wells and permits from the state. Mention layers and zooming capacity Compressors (generalized) green SkyTruth Pits (generalized) blue Violations (generalized) yellow Drilled Wells (generalized) orange Permits (generalized) purple
- #7 Oil and gas development is widespread, and the potential impacts of the industrial activity are numerous and varied. It’s impossible to be an expert on every subject that could possibly intersect with oil and gas activity. Because of this, FracTracker often collaborates with other groups, sharing both our knowledge as well as our audiences. We believe that oil and gas data should be accessible to the public and that individuals can contribute meaningful insight into potential impacts of the industry through crowdsourcing. This area is where our mobile app has been of significant interest. Available for iPhones and Androids Download the app: fractracker.org/app
- #8 Download the source file with all icons below: http://psdblast.com/500-web-icons-pack-for-web-graphic-designers
- #15 In May of last year, FracTracker worked with the National Parks Conservation Association (or NPCA) to document oil and gas development in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, in western North Dakota. NPCA was primarily interested in potential impacts on the park itself, as well as the experiences of park visitors. FracTracker was interested in chronicling the oil and gas activity in Bakken oil play, as well as the opportunity to test out our brand new mobile app, which allows users to document what they see, and share their results with others who are interested. With the help of the app, local volunteers spend two days driving are the North, South and Elkhorn Units of the park, recording images of wells, flares, oil trucks, trains, drilling rigs, pipelines, and other products of the boom on the Bakken. Hundreds of photos were taken by staff from the FracTracker Alliance, NPCA, Kestrel Aerial Service, and numerous volunteers, chronicling oil and gas infrastructure and impacts, as well as wild life and scenic vistas. Let’s take a look at the end result. Much of this project occurred during the beta testing of our mobile app. A key barrier during this initial phase was in allowing people to submit reports after the fact when they had better cell phone service. While we have overcome that technological barrier by adding a “change your location” feature, there are still bumps on the road related to a lack of experience using mobile phone apps for submitting this kind of data, and more generally in awareness of the app’s availability.