(Radio Iowa) – NASA is funding a new project with the University of Iowa and local city water facilities to predict nitrate concentrations in water. The initiative will combine water quality measurements from monitors across the state with NASA satellite imagery of rainfall and land use. U-I engineering professor Jesus Gomez-Velez says his team will use artificial intelligence to turn historical data into a forecasting model.
He says accurate forecasts could help water treatment plants decide where to draw water from or how to treat it. Gomez-Velez says his team will take the A-I-generated data to create a nitrate prediction tool, which will be passed along to local water treatment facilities.
NASA and the university are partnering with Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, as well as Des Moines Water Works. The tool will need at least two years of testing before it’s accurate.
