Air Quality Monitoring and Data Acquisition for Livestock and Poultry Environment Studies

The development of analytical instruments and computer technologies in recent decades has facilitated significant changes in the methodologies used in scientific studies of agricultural air quality. A variety of instruments and sensors have been used for long-term and continuous measurements at commercial animal facilities and laboratories for determining baseline pollutant emissions and testing mitigation technologies. New measurement strategies were developed for real-time measurement and multi-location sampling. Optimization of this technology change necessitates an up-to-date system to acquire high-frequency data, control instruments and sampling locations, and monitor system operation. While various air quality research projects involve similar objectives and instrumentation to meet those objectives, they are usually conducted with monitoring plans that differ among sites and among projects. Special data acquisition and control (DAC) hardware and software have to be adapted for each monitoring plan. This paper summarizes various measurement and control devices used for comprehensive air quality studies of livestock and poultry environments. The paper further presents methods for real-time data transformation and processing. It introduces an air quality DAC system, which provided novel, flexible, and user-friendly features. The methodology and technology used in the new DAC system reduces system development and operational cost, increase reliability and work efficiency, and enhances data quality.