About NRCS Air Quality

The NRCS Air Quality and Atmospheric Change scientists work closely with other NRCS technical specialists and policy makers, as well as representatives from other Federal, State, University, and private organizations to provide high quality, up-to-date information on agricultural air quality.  To learn more about each air quality scientist, follow the specific links at left.

Specifically, the air quality scientists are involved in:

• Particulate Matter (including coarse and fine particles, smoke, dust, and off-site effects from wind erosion)
  • Inventory existing technology to predict particulate matter from agricultural operations, including field operations, transportation, and commodity handling
  • Generation and transportation of particulate matter from wind erosion, including development and implementation of wind erosion prediction technology (WEPS)
  • Represents USDA on Western Regional Air Partnership Dust Forum
• Ozone Precursors
  • Diesel emissions
• Odor
  • Use tree windbreaks to reduce odors from animal production facilities
  • Develop and implement tools that will identify adequate distances  to minimize odor transport from animal production facilities and residences
• Chemical Drift
  • Use tree windbreaks to reduce chemical drift off a field
• Ammonia
  • Identify technologies that can minimize ammonia emissions from animal waste and fertilizers applied to fields
• Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration
  • Development of the COMET-VR tool for voluntary reporting of carbon sequestration

The NRCS Air Quality and Atmospheric Change Team is also currently involved in the development of an National Engineering Handbook Section on agricultural air quality .