Mar 15, 2011 10:04 GMT  ·  By
NOAA experts derive independent estimates of the recovery rate, oil spill rate and the fate of the spilled gases and oil
   NOAA experts derive independent estimates of the recovery rate, oil spill rate and the fate of the spilled gases and oil

A group of investigators has recently developed a new approach for studying how much oil and natural gas were spilling out from the BP/Deepwater Horizon spill site last spring. This is now possible by analyzing air chemistry measurements taken at the time.

The method was created by scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and academic partners. The researchers say that they can now get to work in estimating oil flow rates with relatively high precision.

The reservoir that the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible rig drilled into was located thousands of feet below the surface, and this made it very difficult for measurement equipment to collect readings.

Despite this, NOAA flew a series of scientific missions using its WP-3D research aircraft, and collecting chemical data above the spill site and surrounding area. Now, these details about the atmosphere may come in very handy, officials with the organization say.

A new study detailing the findings made using these datasets was accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of the esteemed scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“We present a new method for understanding the fate of most of the spilled gases and oil,” explains NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) expert and lead study author Tom Ryerson.

“We found that the spilled gases and oil (spilled fluid) obeyed a simple rule: whether a compound can dissolve or evaporate determines where it goes in the marine environment,” the scientist adds.

“That simple rule, and the methods we lay out in this paper, could enable airborne evaluation of the magnitude of future spills,” he argues. This could provide authorities with a very useful tool for understanding environmental exposure levels.

Ryerson says that the analysis revealed some worrying figures. On June 10 alone, between 32,6009 and 47,700 barrels of liquid gases and oil poured out from the Gulf of Mexico spill site.

“Although we accounted for gases that dissolved before reaching the surface, our atmospheric data are essentially blind to gases and oil that remain trapped deep underwater,” the expert says.

The data also indicate that more than 33 percent of the oil and gas that were released in the waters dissolved before reaching the surface. About 14 percent of the mass that did make it to the surface evaporated into the atmosphere within a few hours.

An additional 10 percent of the material evaporated within 24 and 48 hours of reaching the surface.