麻豆影院

Prateek Shrestha听(笔丑顿惭别肠丑贰苍驳谤鈥�18)

A 麻豆影院 alumnus is developing a program to raise awareness about the air quality in Nepal, a country facing some of the most dire impacts from air pollution in the world. The program starts with a single air-monitoring drone that Prateek Shrestha (笔丑顿惭别肠丑贰苍驳谤鈥�18) hopes will inspire citizen scientists to build similar technology.

Shrestha, who received his PhD in mechanical engineering from CU 麻豆影院 in 2018, grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal. He watched the city鈥檚 air quality deteriorate over the past three decades as the population boomed.

Nepal鈥檚 air quality is considered the third worst in the world. It鈥檚 ranked 178 out of 180 countries, according to . In Asia, Kathmandu is rated as one of the most polluted cities.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a plethora of problems when you look at a place like Nepal,鈥� Shrestha said. 鈥淥riginally coming from there, I always felt like I needed to give back to the community. With the lessons that I learned at CU 麻豆影院 and the expertise that I built here, I want to contribute however I can.鈥�

Shrestha鈥檚 idea to give back begins by educating people about the state of Nepal鈥檚 air quality. To accomplish that, Shrestha partnered with Nepal-based satellite company to engineer a versatile aerial-monitoring instrument that maps local air pollutants.

The locally developed device is a low-cost sensor box that detects the pollutants, attached to a drone. Shrestha said the sensor box itself is easy to build, with some basic knowledge of 鈥榙o-it-yourself鈥� electronics. Shrestha then collaborated with academics from the at Tribhuvan University鈥檚 Institute of Engineering in Kathmandu, who provided the drone.

Shrestha said he expects the adaptable sensor box and drone combination could take air quality measurements at any location within a three-dimensional space, permitted by local regulations.

鈥淏ecause the system is so small, we鈥檙e talking about one tiny drone with limited range and endurance carrying this instrument around, we are only focusing on hyper-local mapping for right now,鈥� Shrestha said. 鈥淲hich means if there鈥檚 a road with a lot of traffic blowing dark diesel exhaust, we can focus on that region of the city.鈥�

The air quality monitoring device is still in development. Shrestha said his team is optimizing the sensor box and testing the drone flights, carrying the sensor box as a payload.

Once the aerial-monitoring instrument launches, Shrestha intends for it to be a demonstration for how the technology can be used. The pilot program will also be proof that other people can build similar devices in Nepal, he added. That is where Shrestha鈥檚 proposed network of citizen scientists comes in.

Amateur researchers can build their own instruments based on low-cost sensors, take measurements and share the data publicly. The idea is inspired by people in the United States, and around the world, who are getting involved in air quality and weather monitoring from their own homes.

Shrestha pointed to as an example. It is a company that receives a lot of its data from consumer-grade science equipment in people鈥檚 backyards. Shrestha said it鈥檚 a great tool for increasing public awareness.

鈥淭here is no general involvement of citizen science that is easily accessible to students and academics who want to do their own research on a very low budget in Nepal,鈥� Shrestha explained. 鈥淚 felt that if I could take this low-cost sensor technology to Nepal, we could build local capacity in citizen science and at the same time, get a sense of which parts of the city are more polluted and which are less.鈥�

Shrestha envisions a versatile platform that locals in Kathmandu developed. He wants citizens to use the technology, know how to maintain and repair the instruments if something breaks down, and have the expertise to expand the platform鈥檚 capabilities if a need arises.

The data could be utilized in various ways, Shrestha said. He anticipates it will be collected to create air pollution maps that show air quality problems in certain parts of a city or town. Those measurements could galvanize small intervention steps, like watering a dusty road to suppress pollutants in the air. The data could also encourage regulatory agencies to take action.

鈥淭he data could be further analyzed to show how many people are getting impacted by the pollutants and highlight the severity of those impacts,鈥� Shrestha said. 鈥淎n outcome of this could be to even urge the local government to take necessary steps, like paving and repairing roads in specific locations, and provide supporting data.鈥�

With the aerial-monitoring instrument still in development, Shrestha is looking for more collaborators and funding. CU 麻豆影院 faculty and students should reach out to Shrestha if they are interested in working on this project and making a difference.

鈥淥ne of my visions is looking at academic research as a means to utilize technology to address real world problems, whether that鈥檚 in a developed or developing part of the world鈥� Shrestha said. 鈥淚f the problem stays the same despite us having knowledge about it for 20 years, it鈥檚 meaningless.鈥�

Shrestha is currently a in the Integrated Building Performance Group at . The air-monitoring drone project is Shrestha鈥檚 volunteer activity and is not affiliated with the laboratory.