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

该奖项是根据《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)整体资助的。CUNY印度污染研究(CIPS)将邀请来自布朗克斯社区学院(BCC)、纽约城市学院(CCNY)和纽约城市大学(CUNY)其他学院的33名本科生在为期三年的时间里开展合作研究，重点关注印度孟买的两个社区；一个是印度最大的贫民窟达拉维，另一个是中上阶层社区桑塔克鲁兹。该项目将与印度孟买理工学院和印度德里理工学院这两个印度机构合作实施。纽约州立大学的学生将前往孟买，与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尺度(社区和街区水平)数据。通过这样做，他们将探索城市模式和污染源，并填补数据收集方面的空白，这些数据收集可能会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关键发现。纽约州立大学的学生将与美国和印度的教职员工和学生一起虚拟地工作，规划路线，校准仪器，并熟悉印度的语言、文化和地理。然后，纽约州立大学的学生将在冬季(1月)前往印度进行为期四周的研究，其中包括监测孟买的污染情况，并在周末访问新德里，比较污染结果。在这段时间里，德里传统上污染水平很高。在他们回来后，学生们将分析他们的发现，然后向CUNY和其他地方的学生、教职员工和工作人员展示他们的发现。他们创建的数据库将用于CUNY、IITB和IITD的研究和教学。总体项目目标是通过高质量、协作的国际研究经验，发展未被充分代表的学生的STEM能力和研究技能，以支持他们留住、大学毕业和坚持STEM学习。印度城市的空气污染研究已经很多了，但这一次的研究将是独一无二的，它结合了在微观尺度上进行的固定和移动测量。印度城市的污染远比美国城市严重，因此学生将体验到一个数据更密集、社会影响更大的环境。其次，将重点放在将人口数据与污染措施相匹配，将允许评估边缘化人口的污染暴露。第三，热带地区的天气倾向于季节性变化，而不是每天变化，这极大地简化了对学生层面的科学的分析。到目前为止，印度城市地区的污染和气候数据还没有在微观尺度(社区和街区)层面上获得。这项拟议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来自固定气象站的支持数据相结合。通过使用BCC提供的、将被运送到印度的无人机，还将有可能几乎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逐个街区地查看选定社区的空气污染梯度和城市热岛结构。拟议的研究将为城市环境中固定传感器之间的数据内插过程提供更好的评估。使用LoRaWAN传感器和游标背包气象站移动平台，可以识别城市中的点源污染源，并确定作为距离污染源距离的函数的浓度梯度，这可以与安装了传感器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在使用的空气质量模型，以模拟城市的空气质量。作为一个沿海城市，孟买将允许我们在微尺度上观察陆风和海风对空气质量的影响，以帮助预测污染警报。将人口数据与在固定路线上观察到的污染相匹配，将有助于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。该项目的设计将允许利用移动传感器平台将卫星检索的空气污染数据与逐条街道和逐个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小规模的地面真实观测，这可能会提供一个将卫星观测应用到城市环境的模型。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.