VOA英语2010年-Gulf Oil Spill Video Archive Goes Online

For the first time, all of the underwater video taken during the Gulf¹ oil spill will be available, online, to the public. Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana is hoping those videos will help experts be better prepared for future disasters.

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing² 11 crew members. In the months that followed, millions of gallons of crude oil gushed³ from the ruptured⁴ well at the bottom of the sea floor, creating one of the biggest environmental disasters in U.S. history. A unique aspect of the event was the way in which efforts to cap the well could be followed - in real time - via one of 14 remotely-operated underwater cameras.

In the early stages of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Purdue University mechanical engineering professor Steve Wereley watched the low-quality videos of the oil spill released by British Petroleum⁵.

 

"I was one of the first people to make volume flow estimates based on that video," he says. Those volume flow figures greatly contradicted the estimates of the amount of oil gushing⁶ from the ruptured well put out by both BP and the U.S. government. "The calculations said that it was approximately 10 times greater than the amount being reported at the time."

Wereley's revelation attracted the attention of government officials. As the crisis unfolded, he was invited to join the Flow Rate Technical Group, where scientists and engineers worked to provide the government with a clearer picture of just how much oil was spilling into the Gulf.

"I think the inevitability⁷ that oil would continue flowing into the Gulf was unprecedented," he says. "It's a disaster in progress, and it displayed 24/7 by the spill cam."

In a sign of how far technology has advanced, Wereley was able to make his volume flow estimates without ever setting foot near the disaster.

From low-quality footage to later high-definition video, all of what engineers know about the spill came from one of 14 underwater submersibles equipped with video cameras.

They gathered footage of the well through most of the ordeal⁸. Not only did the video show the oil spill, but also different angles of the well and the crippled Deepwater Horizon sunk to the bottom of the sea floor.

 
VOA
Purdue University mechanical engineering Professor Steve Wereley, who has followed the oil spill from the beginning, is the lead researcher for oilspillhub.org.
Wereley is now working to collect and preserve that footage - more than 30, 000 hours of it - in a massive online archive at Purdue.

Oilspillhub.org is the home for the videos, and is accessible to the general public. It includes much of the iconic imagery from the disaster, and never-before-seen footage.

Wereley thinks the archive will help the public and government officials gather a complete understanding of the scope and long-term effects of the disaster.

"Right now the U.S. government is preparing the Natural Resources Damage Assessment⁹ to assess how bad the impact of the oil spill was in the Gulf, and one of the primary questions is how much oil came out, and what was the size of the droplets¹⁰ of oil issued into the Gulf," he says. "But there are lots of other questions that could be answered by these videos, for instance, what operation was conducted on what day?"

Wereley estimates it could take a decade or more to understand the true benefit of putting all the footage in one place, online. He points to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989. Scientists are still learning more about the effects of that disaster.

Wereley, who serves as lead researcher for oilspillhb.org, hopes the site provides information that helps prevent a similar incident, avoiding the sense of helplessness created by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

"I think it humbles¹¹ us to see that this accident is happening and not to be able to do anything about it. It very much humbles us before the power of nature."

According to Wereley, the complete time record of the event - 88 days - will eventually be available online, in many cases with video images clearer and more detailed¹² than anything seen before.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 gushed   

v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• Oil gushed from the well. 石油从井口喷了出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Clear water gushed into the irrigational channel. 清澈的水涌进了灌溉渠道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

5 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

6 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 inevitability   

n.必然性

参考例句：

• Evolutionism is normally associated with a belief in the inevitability of progress. 进化主义通常和一种相信进步不可避免的看法相联系。
• It is the tide of the times, an inevitability of history. 这是时代的潮流，历史的必然。

8 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 droplets   

n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. 他额头上冒出了滴滴汗珠。 来自辞典例句
• In constrast, exhaled smoke contains relatively large water droplets and appears white. 相反，从人嘴里呼出的烟则包含相当大的水滴，所以呈白色。 来自辞典例句

11 humbles   

v.使谦恭( humble的第三人称单数 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气

参考例句：

• The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 他使人贫穷、使人富足．人卑微、使人高贵。 来自互联网
• Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before Me? 29亚哈在我面前这样自卑，你看见了么？ 来自互联网

12 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。