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Residents in Southwest Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana should expect to see low-level airplane flights from February through April as part of efforts to map geography and aquifers.

The USGS on Tuesday released a statement about the planned flights, which will encompass parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Illinois, and will be conducted during daytime hours only.

The low-level airplane flights are planned over a broad region in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Illinois and will image geology and aquifers using airborne geophysical technology.

Flights will cover areas within northwest and southeast Louisiana, central and southwest Mississippi, and southern Illinois. This online map shows the approximate location of planned flight lines along with areas completed during past surveys.

Initial flights will be based out of Greenwood the flights will progress to Jackson; Gonzales and Shreveport Louisiana; and Harrisburg, Illinois. The flights could shift with little warning to other parts of the survey area due to adverse flying conditions.

According to the USGS, the latest portion of this survey will provide images that expand the fundamental knowledge of geology and hydrology underpinning northwest and southeast Louisiana, central and southwest Mississippi, and southern Illinois. It will expand earlier surveys in the region that began in 2018 as part of a regional water availability study in the Mississippi Alluvial Plan (MAP). Products generated from the previous surveys include interactive maps of the high-resolution survey near Shellmound, Mississippi, and additional regional, MAP-wide surveys.

Flights in Louisiana and Mississippi will support groundwater studies with multiple partners, including the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development (LADOTD), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Flights in southern Illinois will extend earlier surveys focused on the geology surroundings Hicks Dome as part of the USGS Earth Mapping Resource Initiative (Earth MRI).

The new geophysical data will be processed to develop high-resolution three-dimensional representations of geology and aquifer structure to depths up to about 1,000 feet below the surface.

“The 3D models and maps are important for improving our understanding of water resources, critical mineral resource potential, and parameters for infrastructure and land use planning,” said Burke Minsley, USGS research geophysicist in charge of the project.

The USGS is contracting with Xcalibur Smart Mapping to collect the data.

The survey will use an airplane equipped with a towed “bird” that is deployed about 400 feet (120 meters) behind the airplane when in flight. Instruments in the bird and inside the cabin will measure variations in the Earth’s electrical properties, magnetic field, and natural low-level gamma energy created by different rock types.

The scientific instruments on the airplane create no emissions that pose a risk to humans, animals, or plant life. No photography or video data will be collected. The data collected will be made freely available to the public once complete. The aircraft will be flown by experienced pilots who are specially trained and approved for low-level flying. The company works with the FAA to ensure flights are safe and in accordance with U.S. law. The surveys will be conducted during daylight hours only.

The airplane will fly along pre-planned fight paths relatively low to the ground at about 400 feet (120 meters) above the surface. The ground clearance will be increased to 1,000 feet (300+ meters) over populated areas and will comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Flights will follow west-east lines spaced about 1000 – 6000 feet (600 – 1800 meters) apart in Louisiana and Mississippi, and southwest-northeast lines about 980 feet (300 m) apart in Illinois.