The Flow Rate Technical Group is a group of scientists and engineers from the United States federal government, universities, and research institutions created May 19, 2010, for an official scientific-based estimate of the flow of oil in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
It was convened again on June 10 by Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen after the drilling riser from the well was cut by Maxx3 ROV Dive #35 on May 31, 2010, in an attempt to redirect the flow.
Members of the group[2] are: Particle image velocimetry analysis was used on video of the oil/gas mixture escaping from the damaged well to estimate fluid velocity and flow volume.
Remote sensing data from the deployment of the Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and satellite imagery was used to calculate the amount of oil on the ocean surface every day.
The figures were corrected for oil which had evaporated, been skimmed, burned, and dispersed up to that day and, subsequently, divided by time to produce an average rate of flow.