SCIENCE

More than 30,000 hours of underwater videos of the failed Deepwater Horizon oil drill platform in the Gulf of Mexico are being released on a new website designed to examine the scientific and engineering issues surrounding the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.

The site, which is being built by Purdue University, is available at http://www.oilspillHUB.org

The video archive is part of a science gateway hub under development at Purdue that will provide resources for researchers and educators, such as modeling tools, presentations and computational support.

"OilspillHUB.org is designed to be a resource for the general public, scientists and engineers, and will provide connections to Facebook and Twitter and also allow videos to be viewed on mobile devices," says Steve Wereley, a professor of mechanical engineering. Wereley, who gained national attention for his calculations on the flow rate of the blowout, will be the lead researcher on oilspillHUB.

"The videos on the site are much clearer and sharper images than have been seen before, and the entire time record of the event - 88 days - will eventually be available for researchers to study," he said. "We'll be adding additional tools for researchers, but the videos themselves are quite interesting to view. The site includes videos shot before May 20, which have only been seen by BP and Coast Guard staff."