Fargo, N.D. – Unmanned aircraft systems for agriculture were the focus of an afternoon tour during the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center's annual field tours on Tuesday, July 15.

The unmanned aircraft systems tour presented information on NDSU's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Applications to Agriculture Project that is being conducted as part of the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site. This is one of six sites nationwide that will conduct research to assist the Federal Aviation Administration in developing regulatory standards to foster integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace System.

John Nowatzki, Extension Service agricultural machine systems specialist with NDSU's Department of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering, provided information about the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Applications to Agriculture Project. The project's objective is to verify the effectiveness of unmanned aircraft systems-mounted sensors in assessing field crop and livestock production issues while crews from the test site gather flight data in support of aeronautical research for National Airspace System integration efforts.

Nowatzki also provided information regarding the aircraft being used in the project and their image-sensing capabilities. Al Palmer, director of the University of North Dakota's Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research, Education and Training, discussed UND's program for supporting commercialization of unmanned aircraft systems ventures.

Research flights were conducted by a flight crew from the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site and the UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.