15  Apps

The MST provides two primary interactive web applications for exploring sensitivity data, plus several legacy applications from earlier development phases.

These tools allow stakeholders, scientists, and decision-makers to understand the underlying components contributing to an area’s sensitivity to offshore energy development, supporting better planning and impact assessment.

15.1 Current Applications

15.1.1 mapgl — Sensitivity Map

The mapgl application is the primary tool for exploring composite sensitivity scores across BOEM Program Areas. Key features include:

  • Multi-resolution viewing: toggle between cell-level (0.05° grid) and program area aggregations
  • Study area selection: focus on specific program areas or subregions
  • Layer selection: view individual species category scores or composite metrics
  • Flower plot: interactive summary showing scores by species category with weighted center value
  • Species table: sortable table of species present in selected area with extinction risk details
  • Treemap: hierarchical view of species contributions to sensitivity
  • CSV export: download data for selected area or species

See Appendix: mapgl for details.

15.1.2 mapsp — Species Distribution Viewer

The mapsp application enables exploration of individual species distribution models. Key features include:

  • Species selection: search by common or scientific name, filter by species category
  • Model display: view merged models or individual source dataset layers
  • IUCN masking toggle: compare masked vs. unmasked distributions
  • Species info panel: ESA listing, IUCN Red List category, MMPA/MBTA protection flags, extinction risk score
  • Deep-linking: URL parameters support direct links to specific species

See Appendix: mapsp for details.

15.2 Legacy Applications

Earlier versions of the MST included several prototype applications developed during the research phase. These are documented in the Appendix under Applications (Legacy) for reference.