San Antonio University Finds Faults With Help From Drones

Texas Public Radio reports on how drones can be used for geographical research. "For years, commercial drones have improved with better battery life, stronger motors, lower cost and are easier to use. Researchers are increasingly turning to drones to collect data they couldn’t before, including biologists using them to count trees and officials to monitor snow depth.  Surpless and his students are exploring what these exposed, striated rock outcroppings — the result of stresses from tectonic plates — can tell them about the fault zone below. They are asking questions like: 'How permeable is it' and 'what does the network of fractured rock look like?' The answers, he said, have implications for oil and gas exploration, understanding of how water moves through these areas and, most importantly, how far and where an earthquake’s waves would travel."

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The article in its entirety can be read here.