Western New York Radiological Investigation

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sightings of Air 1, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, have been common in recent months as police departments receive help finding stolen vehicles or missing persons.

But what happens if you see a single-engine plane flying low in the skies of Erie County or Niagara County?

It could very well have been the Spectral Environmental Photometric Collection Technology Airborne Aircraft, also known as ASPECT. You may have spotted it last year, when it was being used by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to conduct a radiological survey of the area.

The DEC, in a recent press release, said the ASPECT flight crew completed about 15 percent of its survey last fall, including parts of the downtown business district of Buffalo. Flights were eventually suspended due to weather-related issues and resumed earlier this week.

The survey is being conducted in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The North Texas-based aircraft “is equipped with a suite of sensors to measure potential sources of radiation. The aircraft’s various sensors generate data to help assess the presence of ground-level materials that could contain radiological materials. Photographs of the property will not be taken during the flyover,” the DEC said.

The plane will fly about 500 feet above the ground for the next month, including weekends. It will follow a “carefully planned linear grid pattern,” according to the DEC.

ASPECT is equipped with sophisticated equipment to detect chemicals, pollutants, soil radiation and more.

The information collected by the ASPECT survey will be used by state and federal officials, who may then decide to follow up with more surveys and field sampling.