Land-Grant Universities at the Forefront of Unmanned-Aircraft Research and Testing

Drone flying over crop
Nation prepares to develop standards and protocols for widespread use

A 2012 Congressional mandate directed the Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA) to begin integrating civilian unmanned aircraft (aka drones) into the national airspace (NAS) by the end of 2015.

FAA regulates all flight through U.S. airspace. Until now, the agency has allowed only public entities with special FAA permits, called Certificates of Authorization (COAs) to fly unmanned aircraft, mostly for research purposes.

On December 30, FAA picked six test sites from …

How do I burn a brush pile?

Brush piles are problematic and can cause many wildfires. This is because they often burn for long periods of time, during which extreme conditions may develop.
Remember that embers can travel great distances from brush piles and create spot fires. The best time to burn a brush pile is when vegetation is actively growing and thus has a high moisture content. Under these conditions, spot fires are less likely to occur. If this is not possible, then fuel needs to …