FarmFlux Mission

Jeff is the Deputy Principal Investigator on a new NASA Earth Venture Suborbital (EVS-4) mission called “FarmFlux”, a $15 million investigation focused on collecting new aircraft-based observations of atmospheric chemistry in agricultural regions. The selection of these missions was announced by NASA in April 2024 here.

The objective of FarmFlux is to study how greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions from U.S. agriculture affects air quality, climate, and ecosystems. The investigation will carefully consider to important agricultural sectors: crops and animals.

The mission will deploy two aircraft (tentatively starting in summer 2026) to characterize relevant processes over crops and animal feeding operations. A heavy-lift aircraft will be equipped with in situ gas and particle instrumentation and survey major U.S. crop systems. A small aircraft will separately focus on quantifying emissions from animal feeding operations (beef cattle, dairies, hogs, and chickens), tracking the evolution of pollution near these sources.

We have released a white paper describing the FarmFlux mission and science, and we welcome public input until October 6, 2024. A NASA ROSES call for proposals to join the science team is anticipated in early 2025. We are looking for a diverse and cohesive team of instrument scientists, modelers, and agricultural experts.

The rest of the leadership team for FarmFlux comprises of Glenn Wolfe (NASA Goddard, mission PI), and Emily Fischer (Colorado State University, Deputy PI).

This page will be updated often as developments occur, and more information on the mission can also be found here.