A NASA Dynamic Aviation A200 aircraft will conduct low-flying research flights over farmland near Greeley, Colorado, beginning Thursday, Oct. 1 through Tuesday, Oct. 20, as part of the FarmFlux mission. These flights will measure gaseous and particulate emissions from animal feeding operations.
Agricultural emissions represent an important and understudied part of Earthâs land and atmosphere systems. The FarmFlux mission will deploy more than a dozen sensors to measure ozone, methane, ammonia, particulates, and other pollutants rising from agricultural lands and animal farms and the interaction with the Earthâs atmosphere. The mission is jointly led by NASAâs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Colorado State University; and Boston University.Â
The Colorado deployment is the first series of flights for the FarmFlux mission. Additional low-altitude research flights are scheduled over farmland in Amarillo, Texas, from late October to early November. For the March to July 2027 growing season, research flights with a NASA P-3 Orion aircraft are scheduled in the Midwest and Californiaâs Central Valley with a focus on croplands.Â
For more information about the FarmFlux mission, visit:
https://espo.nasa.gov/farmflux
By Sharon Teitelbaum
NASAâs Ames Research Center in Californiaâs Silicon Valley
Source: Ames Research Center â NASA
