If you look to the front of the helicopter there is measurement tech there. But like everything, it needs to be serviced, calibrated, downloaded, verified. No open roads this time of year so helicopter is the right tool. Also, the hydrologist are getting an overview of the whole area, seeing what is saturated, what drainages have flow, what has snow, etc. which goes into their models for predicting runoff. Pretty much a nice combo of high tech and old fashion boots on the ground.