NASA Aircraft Bioaerosol Collector (ABC) -2

In an effort to investigate how microbial patterns change with altitude, two research flights were flown using NASA's C-20A Gulfstream III aircraft over the Sierra mountains in the Southern California/Nevada region over two consecutive days.

During each flight, the aircraft reached 40,000 ft and lowered to 30,000 ft, 20,000 ft, and 10,000 ft in a stair-step pattern. Bioaerosol samples were collected at each altitude for 30 minutes on gelatinous filters using the Aircraft Bioaerosol Collector (ABC). DNA was extracted from the bioaerosol sample.