Posted: 07/15/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT
GOLDEN - NASA this week is launching an unprecedented month-long test of Colorado Front Range air using satellites, aircraft and tethered white balloons that will pinpoint sources of pollution.
The testing should mean a better understanding of pollution - whether it is from power plants, urban centers, the oil and gas industry or feedlots - leaders of the multi-agency project said Monday.
'We can't just stop polluting, can't just stop driving our cars. But we can look at where pollution is taking place and strategize about where we can make a change,' NASA's principal investigator, Jim Crawford, said.
NASA's two aircraft arrived at what will be their base: the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Broomfield. Instrument-packed planes flying daily from south metro Denver to Fort Collins will test air at elevations where pollutants mix. Satellites trained on Colorado will give data, when skies are clear, from space.
Ground teams were setting up on a mesa above Golden. Their balloons carry 60 pounds of devices to measure pollutants from nose-level up to where aircraft will test.
Scientists also set up at Chatfield State Park, central Denver, Platteville, Fort Collins and a 985-foot-tall tower east of Erie.
Colorado's Department of Public Health and Environment already tracks ozone, particulate and other pollution. NASA picked Colorado for intensive testing (looking at benzene, ethane, methane, formaldehyde and more) as the final area for its DISCOVER-AQ project. NASA previously focused on Baltimore, Houston and California.
Colorado officials agreed to contribute $2 million. Scientists, including teams from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Environmental Protection Agency, set up measuring systems.
'The state is doing a very good job with monitoring, but of course with limited resources you can only collect limited information,' NCAR scientist Gabriele Pfister said. 'If you have a pollution problem, you know you need to clean up some things. ... Do you want to make informed decisions? If you know exactly the most efficient ways and what you can target, then you can make the decisions that least impact the economy.'
Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700, bfinley@denverpost.com or http://ift.tt/1dxpkTx Entities 0 Name: NASA Count: 5 1 Name: Colorado Count: 3 2 Name: Fort Collins Count: 2 3 Name: Denver Count: 2 4 Name: Bruce Finley Count: 1 5 Name: Houston Count: 1 6 Name: National Center for Atmospheric Research Count: 1 7 Name: Colorado 's Department of Public Health and Environment Count: 1 8 Name: Gabriele Pfister Count: 1 9 Name: Colorado Front Range Count: 1 10 Name: Platteville Count: 1 11 Name: Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport Count: 1 12 Name: Jim Crawford Count: 1 13 Name: California Count: 1 14 Name: NCAR Count: 1 15 Name: Environmental Protection Agency Count: 1 16 Name: Chatfield State Park Count: 1 17 Name: Baltimore Count: 1 18 Name: Broomfield Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1oWwhm7 Title: Tumbling 'hedgehogs' and hovering spheres chosen for space tests Description: Parabolic flights and suborbital vehicles will simulate space conditions New technologies include gecko adhesives and a 'green' propellant A 'hedgehog' bot will be tested to someday explore other planets Nasa also hopes to test systems on its robotic spheres which it claims could eventually take over daily chores for astronauts By Ellie Zolfagharifard From hovering spheres to hopping 'hedgehogs', Nasa has chosen 13 new technologies to test for deep space mission.
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