WASHINGTON — Monitoring and predicting water quality poses a significant challenge since sources of fresh water and contaminants come from vast areas of land and waterways. As a result, inconsistent, manual “grab-sampling” has been the standard for testing water. University of Nebraska researchers are using an AFRI grant to develop an aerial water sampling system using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV can quickly and safely deploy to hard-to-reach locations and respond to changing scenarios. The prototype aerial water sampler has flown more than 1,000 test flights in wide-ranging sampling and sensing missions over California, Kansas, and Nebraska, collecting samples rapidly and at low cost.

Learn more about aerial water sampling here.

— USDA NIFA

For more news from Nebraska, click here.