Project Number: 1245-12610-001-03
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Aug 06, 2010
End Date: Jul 21, 2015

Objective:
Develop integrated methodologies to measure gas and particle-phase contaminants (pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ammonia) and particle pollution (total suspended particles, PM10 and PM2.5) as a means to examine the effects of agricultural and urban pollutants on air quality. Develop an interactive, peer-reviewed database of air quality data measurements from different agricultural operations.

Approach:
ARS and the Cooperator will work together to develop and to evaluate new air sample collection methods for the characterization of gas and particulate phase contaminants including pesticides and other semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), ammonia, VOCs, and particle pollution in ambient air. ARS and the Cooperator will further work together to develop an interactive, peer-reviewed on-line database of air quality measurements made at different types of agricultural operations for use by customer groups. ARS will use the new sample collection methodologies to carry out air quality measurements in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to meet the milestones established in their project plan. The Cooperator will use the database to disseminate results from multi-year datasets collected at cotton ginning operations around the US. The Cooperator will design and construct air sampling towers to measure agricultural contaminants, including TSP, PM10, PM2.5, VOCs, and SVOCs. ARS will modify sampler control software and code to meet experimental designs.