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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Soil, Water & Air Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #181239
Title: EVALUATION OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR AMBIENT AIR MONITORING AT CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS

Author
item Hatfield, Jerry
item Pfeiffer, Richard

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/19/2005
Publication Date: 4/19/2005
Citation: Hatfield, J.L., Pfeiffer, R.L. 2005. Evaluation of technologies for ambient air monitoring at concentrated animal feeding operations. Proceedings of the Air Quality Meeting of Air and Waste Management Association. CD-ROM. April 19-21, San Francisco, California.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Air quality surrounding concentrated animal feeding operations is becoming of increasing concern to nearby residents and regional air quality regulators. Animal feeding operations are unlike other sources of air quality constituents because of their variability in emission rate and differences in management among similar units. Studies have been conducted on the ambient ammonia concentrations from a swine feeding operation throughout the complete production cycle of grow-finish pigs. These data collected at various positions surrounding the facility showed a 10-fold variation in concentration. Additional studies on air flow surrounding this facility have shown the variation induced by orientation of the building site relative to the wind direction and speed. These observations have shown the need for improved monitoring technologies for ambient air quality surrounding animal feeding operations. An evaluation was conducted on seven different ammonia measuring systems surrounding a swine production facility and a beef cattle feeding facility. These instruments were evaluated with the number of tests to determine their accuracy, linearity, precision, response time, calibration and zero drift, interference, data completeness, and ease of use. Each of the instruments had their strengths and weaknesses when monitoring ambient air quality surrounding animal feeding operations. One of the major problems in collecting data surrounding animal operations is the location of the instrument so that a representative sample can be collected.