The CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute of India in collaboration with Aarhus University in Denmark has subcontracted SkyTEM Surveys to map aquifers in six strategically selected areas of India beginning in March 2013.
The objective of Aquifer India Mapping Project (AQUIM) is to acquire 13,800 line kilometres of airborne geophysical data and apply advanced data processing techniques in order to assess a Danish helicopter borne technology for aquifer mapping in the country.
SkyTEM is a helicopter borne geophysical system designed in Denmark in the late 1990s specifically to map water resources. Airborne data is being collected to locate the aquifers in order to assess their status and their vulnerability to human activities.
The study is being managed under a collaborative research program between the research institute in India, the HydroGeophysics Group, Aarhus University in Denmark as well as the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.
Flemming Effersø, SkyTEM’s CEO, said: “India needs to ensure a clean water supply to over one billion people and are using the Danish model and method for mapping much needed fresh water resources so that they can be protected now, and for future generations.”
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