MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A tower at Kansas State University will be used in a 30-year-long project with the National Science Foundation.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the 26-foot tower at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in the spring will begin collecting data for the climate research project.

The $430-million project with the National Ecological Observatory Network project will collect information from more than 100 sites across the country.

Data from the project will be provided free to the public.

The Kansas State University tower will gather data on climate change, land use change and invasive species.

Crews in Kansas will study small mammals, mosquitoes, plants and soil.

Researchers also will focus on the spread of the hantavirus by deer mice and transmission of West Nile virus by mosquitoes.