NASA FARMFLUX EARTH VENTURE SUBORBITAL-4

Released Wednesday, October 7, 2026

ID: 15106

- Produced by:
- Grace Weikert
- Written by:
- Milan Loiacono

EARTH VENTURE SUBORBITAL-4
From 2026 to 2029, hundreds of scientists will be flying a fleet of research planes loaded with instruments to study fire weather, glaciers, landslides, air quality, and emissions from farms. The EVS-4 (Earth Ventures Suborbital-4) mission consists of a series of six airborne campaigns addressing these urgent science topics.

These campaigns are designed to fill the gap between satellite observations from space, and ground-level measurements.

FARMFLUX
Agriculture is the single largest source of ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide in the United States, and it is a rising source of other atmospheric emissions.

Nitrogen is essential to plant growth and animal production. Fertilizer application and manure management inevitably release nitrogen-containing gases, such as ammonia, nitrous oxide, and nitrogen oxides, in addition to methane and other carbon-containing gases. Agricultural emissions are challenging to quantify, and ground monitoring networks are sparse in rural areas. FarmFlux will deploy cutting-edge airborne instruments and techniques to fill this important and understudied gap in climate science and atmospheric research.