– Copters to measure radiation in Bay Area (San Francisco Chronicle, Aug 25, 2012):
Federal safety agencies announced Friday that they will conduct low-flying helicopter surveys over the Bay Area next week to measure naturally occurring background radiation.
The daily flights starting Monday and ending Saturday are part of a joint research project between the Department of Homeland Security‘s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Energy Department agency that oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
The single helicopter will fly during daylight hours at 300 feet above the ground in a “grid pattern” covering 69 square miles, the nuclear security agency’s press office said.
The helicopter, operated by the Department of Energy‘s Remote Sensing Laboratory in Las Vegas, will perform the survey.
The information it gathers will be used by the agencies to “improve aerial radiation measurement capabilities” by local, state and federal entities, the announcement said.
No other information was available.