Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, talks on Oct. 29, 2025, about a statewide scanning process the University of Iowa group is doing for the state legislature and levee districts. By using electricity pulses, IGS can detect anomalies — possibly leaky spots — in…
The Iowa Geological Survey at the University of Iowa is spending some of the fall in Southwest Iowa while using a novel method to test the structural integrity of levees protecting Iowans from floods.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, takes readings while driving over the “toe” end of a levee near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, poses for a photo in front of a utility terrain vehicle kitted out to measure electromagnetic fields on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
An EM-31 terrain conductivity meter sits at the heart of a rig fitted to a utility terrain vehicle, which is set to measure the density of more than 900 miles of Iowa’s levees.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, takes readings while driving over the “toe” end of a levee near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, points to a route along a levee segment near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
ANDREW SMITH, THE NONPAREIL
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, takes readings while driving over the “toe” end of a levee near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
ANDREW SMITH, THE NONPAREIL
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, loads a utility terrain vehicle before embarking on another stretch of Iowa’s levees near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, takes readings while driving over the “toe” end of a levee near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, poses for a photo in front of a utility terrain vehicle kitted out to measure electromagnetic fields on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, takes readings while driving over the “toe” end of a levee near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
An EM-31 terrain conductivity meter sits at the heart of a rig fitted to a utility terrain vehicle, which is set to measure the density of more than 900 miles of Iowa’s levees.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, takes readings while driving over the “toe” end of a levee near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Jason Vogelgesang, a geophysicist with the Iowa Geological Survey, loads a utility terrain vehicle before embarking on another stretch of Iowa’s levees near Glenwood on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
