PEORIA, Ill. – Some helicopters will be flying a little lower than normal over the next month as they study the Illinois River basin.
The U-S Geological Survey announced Thursday that much of central Illinois and parts of northwest Indiana will be studied by helicopters with ring sensors on it. The flights are scheduled to start next week.
The helicopters will measure tiny electric signals that help map features below the Earth’s surface. The helicopters are expected to fly at about several hundred feet above the surface.
Lillian Ostrach is a Research Physical Scientist with the USGS. She said the surveys will help get a better understanding of what we can’t see.
“Details below the surface aren’t able to be visualized. And that’s what these electromagentic measurements are doing. To help the geologists understand what is going on below the surface when it comes to geophysics as well as water,” Ostrach said.
Ostrach said the high population in the basin area can cause some challenges, which more data could address.
“There are water resources challenges. And so that is part of what these low-level flights are going to be helping to understand,” Ostrach said.
Ostrach said the data could help address water quality and quantity issues in the basin.
The study is part of the USGS’ Next Generation Water Observing System project. A similar study was conducted last year in southeastern Wisconsin.
