Partnerships for enhanced engagement in research (PEER) SCIENCE
Special PEER-PIRE Cycle (June 2012 Deadline)

NSF-PIRE collaboration: developing low-carbon cities in India: focus on urban infrastructures, climate risks, and vulnerability

Project Overview 

This PEER project addressed climate change, renewable and sustainable energy interventions, water sustainability, and environmental engineering solutions in cities in India, covering several key USAID priorities. The PI and his team conducted field research on human development risks and climate risks associated with current and future infrastructure trajectories in Indian cities, exploring the extent to which low-carbon infrastructures in India can improve human well-being in cities. To address this issue, the research developed analytic tools to help quantify human co-benefits of low-carbon interventions in Indian cities.

Final Summary of Project Activities

The researchers estimated airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations in Indian cities using satellite data and related these to fossil energy use and human development impacts. The team also purchased and set up environmental beta attenuation mass (EBAM) instruments to monitor PM 10 and PM 2.5 and conducted sampling in Delhi and Hyderabad. A U.S. colleague from Georgia Tech visited to take part in the experiment work. The PI and one of his students on the team visited the United States for research work on conducting climate simulations using the WRF/Chem model incorporating spectral downscaling.

Team members made aerosol measurements in Kanpur and Agra and also organized a summer school at IIT Kanpur with international and Indian lecturers to discuss sustainable cities. A total of 24 students from different universities attended. The researchers have published several papers from their findings and presented their work at various workshops, the Indian Aerosol Science and Technology Association, and the Annual American Geophysical Union conference.

Publications

Bhattu, D. and S.N. Tripathi. 2015. CCN closure study: Effects of aerosol chemical composition and mixing state. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 120(2): 766-783. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD021978

Shamjad, P.M., S.N. Tripathi et al. 2015. The contribution of brown carbon to direct radiative forcing over the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Environmental Science & Technology 49(17): 10474-10481. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b03368

Bergin, M.H., S.N. Tripathi et al. 2015. The discoloration of the Taj Mahal due to particulate carbon and dust deposition. Environmental Science & Technology 49(2): 808-812. https://doi.org/10.1021/es504005q

Kedia, S., S.N. Tripathi et al. 2014. Quantification of aerosol type, and sources of aerosols over the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Atmospheric Environment 98: 607-619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.09.022

Misra, A., Abhishek Gaur, S.N. Tripathi et al. 2014. An overview of the physico-chemical characteristics of dust at Kanpur in the central Indo-Gangetic Basin. Atmospheric Environment 97: 386-396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.08.043

Kanawade, V.P., S.N. Tripathi, et al. 2014. Observations of new particle formation at two distinct Indian subcontinental urban locations. Atmospheric Environment 96: 370-379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.08.001

Kanawade, V., S.N. Tripathi, D. Bhattu, and P.M. Shamjad. 2014. Sub-micron particle number size distributions characteristics at an urban location, Kanpur, in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Atmospheric Research 147-148: 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2014.05.010

Dumka, U.C., S.N. Tripathi, A. Misra, D.M. Giles, T.F. Eck, R. Sagar, and B.N. Holben. 2014. Latitudinal variation of aerosol properties from Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP) to central
Himalayan foothills during TIGERZ campaign. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 119: 4750-4769. https://doi.org/10.13016/m2u8e0-hb6p