A team of electrical engineers from The University of Texas at Arlington and UT Dallas is developing a sensing system that can be used on farms to detect greenhouse gas emissions, a major factor in climate change.
A team of electrical engineers from The University of Texas at Arlington and UT Dallas is developing a sensing system that can be used on farms to detect greenhouse gas emissions, a major factor in climate change.
UTA’s Sungyong Jung, associate professor of electrical engineering, and UT Dallas’ JB Lee, professor of electrical engineering, say their system will allow farmers to make adjustments that will reduce greenhouse emissions while increasing crop yields and lowering costs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service (USDA ARS) is funding their research with a $265,000 grant, including about $182,000 for UTA.
“Farm fields emit carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from fertilizers, cultivation of soils, animal waste and rotting crops,” Jung said. “If we are successful, farmers will be able to accurately monitor gas emissions and reduce the factors that lead to them, allowing the farmers to save money while increasing their productivity.”
Measuring greenhouse gas emissions is complicated because they are produced by multiple processes. Farmers must place hundreds of sensors in their fields to monitor emissions, making the collection of data difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
Read more at: University of Texas at Arlington
Photo Credit: Sungyong Jung/UT Arlington
