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 …

Frank Wideman

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Frank Wideman is a Natural Resources Engineering Specialist with the University of Missouri Extension.  He specializes in natural resource management, water quality, farm and home energy and emerging technologies.  He includes GIS, GPS, and Remote Sensing in all those areas.  He also utilizes distance education, social media, and community resource management to develop these programs.  He is currently serving as an eXtension Question Wrangler along with his duties for University of Missouri.  Frank has a B.S. & M.S. in …