32 Hydrogeology
Added due to amount of discipline abstracts submitted.
Tuesday, 10 March 2026
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
RCC, 106
A Successful Proof-of-Concept Project: Using a Drone-Based Thermal Camera to Identify Groundwater Seeps Along Little Bayou Creek in McCracken County, Kentucky
Paper number: 32-11
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 4:15 PM – 4:30 PM
Authors
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Steve HampsonUniversity of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
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Alan FryarUniversity of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Abstract
Little Bayou Creek (LBC) is located north of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) and discharges into the Ohio River 5.5 km downstream of Metropolis, Illinois. In the 1990s, several groundwater seeps discharging into LBC were identified, and PGDP-associated contaminants such as trichloroethene and technetium-99 were detected in groundwater samples collected from the seeps. Over the past decade, the Kentucky Division of Waste Management (KDWM) has routinely sampled five seeps along a 0.33 km segment of LBC known as the spring reach. The U.S. Department of Energy Portsmouth Paducah Project Office through the Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and Environment contracted the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) to determine whether the number of seeps discharging into LBC has increased over time and if those seeps are migrating. To begin to answer these questions, in early 2024, KGS initiated a drone-based thermal camera proof-of-concept project. A DJI Matrice 300 with a H20T camera was flown along LBC above the tree canopy (altitude 50 m) in February, March, and August 2024 and January 2025, capturing full leaf-off and -on conditions. In addition, to verify the above-canopy flight results, a DJI Mavic 3T was flown along LBC below the tree canopy (altitude 2 to 10 m) in August 2024 and January 2025. The five seeps sampled by KDWM were successfully identified during the flights above (leaf-off conditions) and below the tree canopy. In addition, four previously unidentified seeps were mapped. Future work will include additional below- and above-canopy flights in conjunction with in-stream water quality measurements (temperature, pH, and conductivity).
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 1
doi: 10.1130/abs/2026SE-411651
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