Watch your head – low flying aircraft surveying Kilkenny

By COLIN BARTLEY

THERE will be a lot of activity in the skies around Kilkenny tomorrow as a national survey of the county gets underway – from above.

The Tellus survey is a national programme to gather geochemical and geophysical data across Ireland, examining the chemical and physical properties of our soil, rocks and water.

The Tellus plane will take to the air today flying at very low altitude. It will survey the land close to the M9 from Junction 2, Kilcullen, to Junction 9, Kilkenny south.

Tellus is undertaken by Geological Survey Ireland and is funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

Tellus involves two types of surveying – airborne geophysical surveying using a low-flying aircraft and ground-based geochemical surveying of soil, stream water and stream sediment.

The survey airplane will be a fixture in the air above Kilkenny over the coming months as the whole county and region is currently being recorded.