POLITICO
Get the Morning Tech newsletter
Email
Sign Up
By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Presented by Facebook
With help from Leah Nylen and John Hendel
Editor’s Note: Morning Tech is a free version of POLITICO Pro Technology s morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories.
Drones help researchers get better look at groundwater contamination
Wisconsin State Farmer
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are developing new techniques to evaluate groundwater contamination using drones to get a bird s eye view.
Hydroecologist David Hart and licensed drone operator Grace Graham are using infrared data captured by drones to protect groundwater and improve the state s drinking water quality. Graham is a part of the Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey, a limb of the UW Division of Extension.
The infrared data helps them detect temperature changes via soil thickness, which is much more difficult to do by hand. The goal is to prevent groundwater contamination on farms due to runoff and fertilizers. The pair is conducting most of their research in Kewaunee County on the northeastern end of the state, where groundwater contamination is a prominent issue.
Geologists have been testing drones in northeastern Wisconsin as a way to pinpoint shallow soils in areas sensitive to groundwater contamination. The method of measuring soil depths may be beneficial for state regulators, county conservationists and farmers who are working to implement new restrictions on manure spreading in the region.
Studies in northeastern Wisconsin have shown private wells are susceptible to groundwater contamination from nitrates and other bacteria due to thin soil in areas with fractured bedrock.
The findings prompted the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to impose restrictions on manure spreading across 15 counties two years ago. Those standards limit how much manure farms can spread based on the depth of a field s topsoil. Producers are barred from spreading manure on fields with less than two feet of topsoil.