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KGS shallow‑geophysics program draws Department of Defense funds; drone work finds orphaned wells
Summary
KGS described its shallow‑geophysics work, which has been used for sinkhole and tunnel detection and has attracted federal Defense Department funding. The survey also described an airborne drone magnetometer technique that identified orphaned wells for the Kansas Corporation Commission.
The Kansas Geological Survey told the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources that its shallow‑geophysics capabilities — developed originally for hazard and mine‑collapse detection — have been adapted for homeland security and have attracted Defense Department support.
KGS Director Jay Kalbus described equipment and methods used to detect shallow voids and tunnels. He showed images from a project at the U.S.–Mexico border where KGS‑developed systems identified smuggling tunnels; a Department of Defense agent appeared in the slide deck in a photo standing inside a tunnel the survey located.
Representative Carlin asked how the “tens of millions of dollars” came into Kansas. Kalbus answered: “The Department of Defense just awarded us a $15,000,000 grant to continue developing technology for shallow void detection.” He said the DOD award is one example of federal agencies contracting KGS work because of the survey’s specialized equipment and processing.
Kalbus also described an airborne drone outfitted with a magnetometer that the survey used to locate orphaned wells in blind tests prepared by the Kansas Corporation Commission. He said the KGS team was able to detect five orphaned wells in a test; the drone flew repeated, precision flight lines and the magnetotelluric processing produced strong anomalous signatures where the wells were later confirmed.
Kalbus said the shallow‑geophysics group deploys a range of platforms — from truck‑mounted seismic sources to helicopter arrays and smaller drone systems — and that work has applications in sinkhole hazard mapping, transportation‑infrastructure safety and search efforts where shallow voids are a concern. He said the same methods have been adapted for Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense requirements and are being further developed for mounted use on military vehicles.
Nut graf: KGS presented that its unique shallow‑geophysics skill set, proven on state hazards projects, has been repurposed for federal homeland‑security and defense contracts, and that airborne magnetics have been used successfully in state tests to detect orphaned wells for plugging and abandonment work.
Kalbus added that the technology has commercial and research partners and that continued grant funding enables the survey to scale deployments and build advanced processing. Representative Long and others discussed data sharing and partnerships with industry; Kalbus said some oil‑and‑gas seismic data remain proprietary while other cooperation yields public datasets when funded through grants.
Ending: Committee members asked operational questions about how the tools work and whether private industry shared historical data. KGS said it works closely with operators and that some industry data are shared for student projects and jointly funded efforts, while proprietary surveys may remain behind company firewalls.
