USGS undertaking massive new project involving Illinois River Basin

WILL COUNTY, Ill. - If you live in the far south suburbs, you may see an unusual thing flying over your neighborhood as scientists try to get a better look at what's under your feet.

Over the next few weeks, a helicopter towing a giant ring will be buzzing over a good portion of the state.

It's essentially one of the world's largest metal detectors. 

"We’re looking at an airborne electromagnetic sensor. This allows us to map structures in the subsurface," said research geophysicist Dr. Burke Mimsley.

Dr. Mimsley is a geophysicist with the US geological survey, which is undertaking a massive and ambitious new project to essentially map everything underground to a depth of 1,000 feet within the Illinois River Basin.

To do that, they are using a 60-foot wide metal ring that weighs half a ton that sends electromagnetic signals into the ground to create a 3D image of what’s down below.

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"It’s sort of like medical imaging. You go to the doctor and get an MRI instead of doing surgery. We are able to collect this data over large areas to tell us about the subsurface without having to drill holes all over the place," said Dr. Mimsley.

The primary goal of the project is to map underground aquifers and groundwater where it’s moving and how fast. That’s especially important to keep track of agricultural chemicals and waste products leaching into our water system.

"We want to look for conditions that make it more likely for harmful algal blooms to generate and exist.," said Katie Hulsey, a hydrologist at the Central Midwest Water Science Center.

The helicopter will fly about 2,300 miles over 12 full flying days, which could take three or four weeks depending on the weather.