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| Origin and Potential Control of
Air Pollution in the Kathmandu Valley |
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Principal Investigators
MIT:
R.Prinn
ETH: J.Stalhelin, C.Schaer
Chalmers:
B.Galle
Peprecht-Karls Univ.: U.Platt
Kathmandu Univ.:
S.Shrestha
Urban air pollution is a growing threat to
sustainability in many developing countries. It affects not only the
health of local residents, but also, increasingly, pollution and
climate on a global scale. Governments in developing countries have
far fewer resources to address the problem than do governments in
developed countries facing similar problems. At the same time, the
climates, emissions patters, and socio-political systems in many
developing countries are sufficiently different that a direct
“transfer” of knowledge and of “solutions” from developed countries
alone will not solve the problems.
Goals/Objectives
The goal of this research is to
study the processes that control air pollution in the Kathmandu
Valley in Nepal. The Kathmandu Valley is a mountain-enclosed valley
with a rapidly growing city in a developing country with very few
resources and little previous scientific data.
- Measure the chemical composition of the valley’s air using
modern remote sensing instruments as well as with an in-situ
measurement station
- Use a sodar (acoustic sounder) to measure the vertical profile
of winds that transport the pollutants and to determine the
temporal evolution of the depth of the surface mixed layer where
the pollution accumulates.
- Improve the database of emissions within and upwind from the
valley
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