Low-Flying Aircraft to Test Air Quality

If you're in the car sometime in the next month and see a plane spiraling toward the ground, don't panic.

NASA, in conjunction with the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Environmental Protection Agency, will conduct an air quality study over northeast Maryland. Low-flying aircrafts will sample air pollution over Interstate 95 and other major roadways from June 27 through July 31 as part of a project called DISCOVER-AQ.

Approximately 14 flights are planned utilizing NASA's P-3B, a 117-foot, four-engine turboprop hauling nine scientific instruments. The aircraft will fly spiral patterns over ground measurement stations as low as 1,000 feet from the ground. The plane's home base is Wallops Island, VA.

A message to local emergency operations personnel was sent out last week, notifying dispatch centers in the region of the planned flights.

For more information on planned flight patterns, click here.