Blimps announce air quality study
By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News
Wellington dairyman Jon Slutsky thought he was signing on to a low-key
research project on air quality. Then the blimps went up.
"People are coming out here looking for the UFOs," he joked in late July.
Between calls and visitors, staff and researchers at La Luna Dairy on County
Road 9 were busy explaining why four big balloons were floating 100 meters
overhead. One visitor simply wanted to know where he could get blimps,
too.
The blimps themselves were not collecting research data; they were holding
up lines with air-monitoring filters placed at 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 meters
for a nationally funded, multi-disciplined project aimed at collecting
data on air emissions from dairy production systems.
"Odor is a big research issue," explained Tom Westing, retired animal science
professor from the University of Arkansas.
Colorado State University animal nutrition professor Don Johnson said the
research team chose La Luna Dairy because it uses an algae treatment system
for animal wastes. The second dairy in the pilot project, located east
of Platteville, uses anaerobic lagoons. Data will be collected seasonally
over two years.
"We're trying to get some real numbers from what does come off a confined
animal operation," Johnson explained. "There's a lot of speculation and
very little data."
This study is investigating the fluxes of ammonia, small particulates,
nitrous oxide and methane. At La Luna, one blimp was placed upwind to monitor
air coming into the dairy. Three were placed downwind to detect changes
in air quality.
If the researchers can identify patterns of gaseous and particulate emissions
from confined animal operations, they may be able to recommend ways to
ameliorate the smells. Westing, working as a visiting professor at CSU,
noted that years ago researchers measured air quality emissions at ground
level with motor driven sampling devices. Getting filters into the atmosphere
will help quantify results, he said. "It's more objective and we can find
solutions because of the differences we're able to measure," Westing said.
Doctoral candidate Nichole Marcillac noted that another device was measuring
wind direction, wind speed, temperature and relative humidity. That information
will be used to create a model of the emissions.
Research results will be given to local producers, industry groups, regulatory
agencies and scientific groups.
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