Collaborative Research: IRES Track 1/IRES Sites: CUNY India Pollution Study (CIPS)

该奖项全部由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。纽约市立大学印度污染研究（CIPS）将吸引来自布朗克斯社区学院（BCC）、纽约市立学院（CCNY）和纽约市立大学（CUNY）其他学院的33名本科生，在三年的时间里，对印度孟买的两个社区进行合作研究；其中一个是达拉维，印度最大的贫民窟，另一个是圣克鲁斯，一个中上层社区。该项目将与印度孟买理工学院（IITB）和德里理工学院（IITD）这两个印度机构合作执行。纽约市立大学的学生将前往孟买，与来自这两所大学的印度学生合作，使用固定和移动传感设备收集和分析有关空气污染水平的微观尺度（社区和街区）数据。在此过程中，他们将探索城市模式和污染源，填补数据收集方面的空白，为印度和世界各地城市中心的进一步研究和公共政策提供重要的发现。城市大学的学生将与美国和印度的教师和学生一起规划路线，校准仪器，并适应印度的语言，文化和地理。随后，纽约市立大学的学生将前往印度进行为期四周的冬季（1月）代祷研究，其中包括监测孟买的污染情况，并在周末访问新德里，比较污染调查结果。传统上，德里在这段时间的污染程度很高。返回后，学生将分析并向纽约市立大学及其他地方的学生、教师和工作人员展示他们的发现。他们创建的数据库将用于纽约市立大学、国际理工学院和国际理工学院的研究和教学。该项目的总体目标是通过高质量的国际合作研究经验，培养代表性不足的学生的STEM能力和研究技能，以支持他们留任、大学毕业和坚持STEM研究。印度城市的空气污染研究有很多，但这一研究将是独特的，它结合了在微观层面上进行的固定和移动测量。印度城市的污染比美国城市严重得多，因此学生将体验到一个数据更密集的环境，具有更大的社会影响。第二，将人口统计数据与污染措施相匹配的重点将允许对边缘化人口的污染暴露进行评估。第三，热带地区的天气往往是季节性变化，而不是每天变化，这大大简化了学生水平科学的分析。到目前为止，污染和气候数据还没有在印度城市地区的微观尺度（社区和街区）层面上被捕获。这项拟议中的研究将向孟买和新德里介绍在微观尺度上测量空气污染的方法，将移动传感器和类似的固定传感器与固定气象站的支持数据结合起来。BCC的无人机将被运送到印度，几乎可以同时获得污染和气候参数的垂直剖面。这将使研究人员能够看到选定社区的空气污染梯度和城市热岛结构，实际上是一个街区一个街区。本研究将对城市环境中固定传感器间的数据插值过程提供更好的评估。使用LoRAWAN传感器和游标背包式气象站移动平台，可以识别城市中的污染源，并确定浓度梯度作为与污染源距离的函数，这可以与安装了LoRAWAN传感器的无人机飞行获得的垂直梯度配对。这将有助于开发和微调已经用于模拟城市空气质量的空气质量模型。作为一个沿海城市，孟买将允许我们在微观尺度上观察陆地和海风对空气质量的影响，以帮助预测污染警报。将人口统计数据与在固定路线上观察到的污染情况相匹配，可以评估边缘化人口的污染暴露情况，特别是在亚洲最大的贫民窟达拉维。该项目设计将允许将卫星检索的空气污染数据与使用移动传感器平台逐条街道和逐街区收集的空气污染数据相关联。印度以前从未进行过如此微观尺度的地面实况调查，这可能为将卫星观测的应用扩大到城市环境提供一种模式。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).The CUNY India Pollution Study (CIPS) will engage thirty-three (33) undergraduate students from Bronx Community College (BCC), City College of New York (CCNY), and other City University of New York (CUNY) colleges, over a period of three years in collaborative research focused on two neighborhoods in Mumbai, India; one of which is Dharavi, the largest slum in India and the other is Santacruz, an upper middle-class neighborhood. The project will be performed in collaboration with two Indian institutions, the India Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD). CUNY students will travel to Mumbai and work with Indian students from these two institutions to collect and analyze micro-scale (neighborhood and block-level) data about air pollution levels using both fixed and mobile sensing equipment. In doing so, they will explore urban patterns and sources of pollution, and fill a gap in data collection that could provide critical findings to inform further research and public policy in India and in urban centers worldwide. CUNY students will work virtually with US and Indian faculty and students to plan routes, calibrate instruments, and become oriented to Indian language, culture, and geography. CUNY students will then travel to India for four weeks of research over the winter (January) intercession, which will include monitoring pollution in Mumbai and a weekend visit to New Delhi to compare pollution findings. Delhi traditionally has high levels of pollution during this period. Upon their return, students will analyze and then present their findings to students, faculty, and staff at CUNY and beyond. The database they create will be used for research and instruction at both CUNY and at IITB and IITD.The overall project goal is to develop underrepresented students’ STEM competencies and research skills through high-quality, collaborative international research experiences to support their retention, college graduation, and persistence in STEM studies. There have been many air pollution studies in Indian cities, but this one will be unique based on the combination of fixed and mobile measurements taken at the micro-scale level. Indian cities are far more polluted than American cities, so students will experience a more data-intensive environment with greater societal impact. Second, the focus on matching demographic data to pollution measures will allow for an assessment of pollution exposure of marginalized populations. Third, weather in the tropics tends to change seasonally rather than daily, greatly simplifying the analysis for student-level science. Until now, pollution and climate data have not been captured at the micro-scale (neighborhood and block) level in urban areas in India. This proposed research will introduce to Mumbai and New Delhi the approach of measuring air pollution on a micro-scale, combining mobile sensors and similar fixed sensors with supporting data from fixed weather stations. Near simultaneous vertical profiles of pollution and climate parameters will also be possible with the use of drones available at BCC that will be transported to India. This will allow researchers to see air pollution gradients and urban heat island structure of the selected neighborhoods, literally block by block. The proposed research will provide better assessment of the process of interpolation of data between fixed sensors in urban environments. The use of LoRAWAN sensors and the Vernier backpack weather stations mobile platform makes it possible to identify point sources of pollutions in the city and to determine the concentration gradient as a function of distance from the source, which can be paired with vertical gradients obtained by the drone flights with the sensors LoRaWAN sensors mounted. This will aid the development and fine-tuning of air quality models already in use to model the city’s air quality. As a coastal city, Mumbai will allow us to observe land and sea breeze influence on air quality on a micro-scale to aid in forecasting pollution alerts. Matching demographic data to pollution observed on fixed routes will allow an assessment of pollution exposure of marginalized populations, particularly in Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. The project design will allow for the correlation of air pollution data retrieved by satellites to air pollution data collected on a street-by-street and block-by-block levels using mobile sensor platforms. Ground-truthing on such a microscale has not been previously performed in India and may provide a model to extend the application of satellite observations to urban settings.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.