CNIC: US-India Collaborative Research Linking Remote Sensing, Citizen Science, and Robotics to Address Critical Environmental Problems in Data Sparse Regions

技术说明尽管几十年来一直呼吁改善国际数据共享和环境观测，但由于缺乏数据收集、质量控制和官僚障碍，世界许多地区，特别是发展中国家，仍然无法获得关键环境数据的测量。可靠的当地环境数据对于确定环境趋势和制定适当的政策对策至关重要。该提案以卡纳塔克邦Arkavathy分水岭的数据稀缺为例，重点研究了传统观测技术和新兴观测技术的综合应用。这是加州大学伯克利分校(UBC)、伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校(UIUC)和班加罗尔阿肖卡生态与环境研究信托基金(ATREE)之间的一项新的国际合作，旨在生成新的环境数据收集技术，用于数据稀缺地区的应用。它将汇集印度拥有环境科学、机器人和遥感专业知识的研究人员，试验一个连接现场测量、机器人和卫星遥感的观测系统。ATREE还将举办一个研讨会，以制定下一步行动，包括将未来的提案概念化，提交给印度的资助机构和美国国家科学基金会？S地理空间科学和机器人项目。这一建议的学术价值在于开发了数据收集和综合方法，以解决发展中国家的基本环境数据差距问题。它将评估实现新型数据收集系统的三个关键设计目标的可行性：观测的空间和时间扩展、低成本可重复测量和确保研究人员的安全。它将确定与融合多种数据类型以对环境观测进行一致解释相关的关键方法学挑战，以及与独立方法相关的具体挑战。它将在以下三个机构提供跨部门研究专业知识的交流：不列颠哥伦比亚大学的水文学和遥感，UIUC的低成本传感器和移动传感器平台，以及ATREE的水资源可持续性、公民科学和发展项目。更广泛的描述通过建立ATREE、UIUC和UCB现有的研究重点，研究人员将确保初步收集的试点数据与更大的项目目标和南印度政策的形成有关。他们将与ATREE合作，确保通过他们的项目门户和印度水数据门户共享收集的数据。拟议的合作研究将直接支持两名博士生，为他们提供与国际合作伙伴发展有意义的工作关系的机会，并为他们的博士研究做出贡献。这项拟议的研究还将支持四名初级教员的研究目标：三名在美国，一名在印度。

Technical description Despite several decades of calls for improved international data sharing and environmental observations, measurements of critical environmental data remain unavailable in many parts of the world, especially in developing nations due to the lack of data collection, quality control, and bureaucratic obstacles. Reliable local environmental data are essential for identifying environmental trends and formulating appropriate policy responses. This proposal focuses on a synthesis of traditional and emerging observation techniques to address data scarcity in the Arkavathy Watershed, Karnataka as a case study. This is a new international collaboration among the University of California, Berkeley (UBC), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bangalore to generate novel environmental data collection techniques for application in data scarce regions. It will bring together researchers with expertise in environmental science in India, robotics and remote sensing to pilot an observation system linking field measurements, robotics and satellite remote sensing. There will also be a workshop at ATREE to formulate next steps including conceptualizing future proposals for submission to Indian funding agencies and to NSF?s Geospatial Sciences and Robotics programs. The intellectual merit of this proposal lies in the development of data collection and synthesisapproaches that address fundamental environmental data gaps within the context of developing nations. It will evaluate the feasibility of achieving three key design goals for novel data collection systems: spatial and temporal extension of observations, low cost reproducible measurements, and ensuring researcher safety. It will identify key methodological challenges associated with fusion of multiple data types for consistent interpretation of environmental observations, as well as specific challenges associated with independent methods. It will provide cross-fertilization of research expertise across groups in three institutions: hydrology and remote sensing at UBC, low-cost sensors and mobile sensor platforms at UIUC, and water sustainability, citizen science and development projects at ATREE. Broader description By building on existing research foci held by ATREE, UIUC and UCB, the researchers will ensure that the initial collection of pilot data is linked to larger project goals, and to policy formation in south India. They will work with ATREE to ensure that collected data are shared through their project portal and the India Water Data Portal. The proposed collaborative research will directly support two PhD students by offering them the opportunity to develop meaningful working relationships with international partners and contribute to their doctoral research. The proposed research will also support the research goals of four junior faculty: three in the United States and one in India.