NASA’s FarmFlux research campaign will begin a Texas aircraft operation Oct. 22 to collect livestock-emissions data, addressing a measurement gap the agency associates with limited rural monitoring.
NASA’s Oct. 15 announcement sets the Texas window at Oct. 22 to Nov. 9, 2026, and identifies the aircraft as a Dynamic Aviation A200. The planned low-altitude flights near Transit will sample gases and airborne particles associated with animal feeding operations.
The A200 leg focuses on livestock, while FarmFlux also includes research over crop fields. NASA says the team will deploy more than a dozen sensors to record ozone, methane, ammonia, particulates and other pollutants across crop and livestock sites. Leadership is shared by Colorado State University, Boston University and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
NASA says rural monitoring networks provide limited coverage, leaving agricultural emissions difficult to quantify. The agency identifies agriculture as the top U.S. source of ammonia, methane and nitrous oxide.
NASA’s mission page says agricultural emissions primarily come from crop fertilization and livestock. It calls them “traditionally understudied” and identifies them as contributors to atmospheric gases and particles. FarmFlux covers both sources through livestock-focused Texas flights and research over crop fields.
The campaign is designed to examine how agricultural activity and the atmosphere affect each other. NASA says researchers will track how farm-related emissions travel and change after entering the air. Observations are expected to support air-quality models for near-term forecasts and simulations of improvement strategies over longer periods. NASA’s mission page says the data will also help improve understanding of agriculture’s effects on the atmosphere.
NASA’s next phase targets crop systems, with P-3 Orion aircraft scheduled to make low-altitude passes over the Midwest and California’s Central Valley from March through July 2027.