An Evaluation of Best Practices in an Air Quality Student Science Project in Ethiopia

Dingemanse, Johannes Dirk; Wit, Geertje Dingemanse-de

doi:10.21601/aquademia/11828

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Data was collected with the student science method: letting students conduct research as part of their curriculum (Dingemanse & Dingemanse-de Wit, 2022). As part of a course, students in groups of 5-6 studied traffic air pollution.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Roadside PM2.5 concentrations measured with low-cost sensors and student science in Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Dingemanse,

Tadele,

Tadesse

2024

EJWST

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Exposure to PM2.5 poses one of the biggest health threats, with traffic and biomass burning as dominant sources in urban areas of low-income countries. In Ethiopia, the combination of these two sources suggests a high roadside exposure. Because of a lack of resources for data collection, only few studies were conducted on roadside exposure in Ethiopia. Using low-cost sensors and student science could partially remedy this lack of resources. Students collected PM2.5 data in Arba Minch at four stationary locations and inside two public transport tricycles during a period of six weeks with self-made low-cost sensors. Data was analyzed to gain insight into concentration levels, temporal variation, spatial variation, and difference between next to the road and on-road concentrations. Average concentrations ranged from 13-36 µg/m3. Concentrations were highest during morning hours (42 ± 12 for hours 6:00-10:00, versus 20 ± 1 and 32 ± 4 for 10:00-17:00 and 17:00-21:00, respectively), and concentrations were highest at the local bus station (36.2 µg/m3). On-road concentrations showed the highest variation and were on average higher than concentrations next to the road (33 ± 25 and 30 ± 22 µg/m3 versus 23.3 ± 18 and 22.6 ± 18 µg/m3). On a daily average level, concentrations at different locations showed a high correlation (R2 0.8-0.95) amongst each other. This suggests the possibility to interpolate concentrations from one location to other locations. Moreover, the PM2.5 concentrations exceeded air quality guidelines. In Ethiopia, more than ten cities have higher populations and traffic flows than Arba Minch. In those cities, similar or higher exceedances are expected. With this study as an example, other universities could likewise conduct research with low-cost sensors and student science in their cities. Cooperation across course instructors and universities in applying these methods will increase the insight in PM2.5 exposure in Ethiopian cities. Keywords: ambient air pollution; traffic; Sensirion SPS30; student measurements; Particulate Matter

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Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a lack of resources has resulted in low research undertaking. This can be partially remedied with low cost sensors (Dingemanse, 2022a;Isaxon et al, 2019) and student science (Dingemanse & Dingemanse-de Wit, 2022). This study has applied both methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roadside PM2.5 concentrations measured with low-cost sensors and student science in Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Dingemanse,

Tadele,

Tadesse

2024

EJWST

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“…This falls under the umbrella of Citizen Science: science carried out at least in part by lay people or by a broader community than professional researchers (Kimura & Kinchy, 2016). For the topic of air quality in higher education specifically, a particularly promising approach is Student Science: to let students conduct science, as part of the students' curriculum (Dingemanse & Dingemanse-de Wit, 2022). This combines the benefits of crowdsourcing associated with Citizen Science with the additional educational value offered by participatory research (Zoellick et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Students of Arba Minch University have conducted measurements of PM 2.5 , CO, and CO 2 in a variety of self-selected air quality circumstances in their environment. This case of Student Science has been subject to a study in which it is found that Student Science can serve both scientific and educational needs typical for a university in Ethiopia (Dingemanse & Dingemanse-de Wit, 2022). The current study focuses on that scientific side and makes two main contributions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using student science to identify research priority areas for air pollution in a university environment: an Ethiopian case study

Dingemanse

Abiyu

Tesfaye³

et al. 2022

Clean Air J.

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Students in a country like Ethiopia face a double air pollution challenge: they are frequently exposed (both outdoors and indoors) to sources of incomplete combustion and therefore to unhealthy concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO), while they also face increased carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in crowded dormitories and classrooms. Research on air pollution in the environment of Ethiopian students is scarce. This lack of research can be fixed by involving students in science through a student science project, essentially a subset of citizen science. Students of Arba Minch University, Ethiopia, conducted measurements of PM2.5, CO, and CO2 under self-selected circumstances. Their measurements are compared to guideline values related to health effects to identify priority areas for future research. For PM2.5, students’ measurements show likely exceedances of guideline values for an inside coffee ceremony, close to open waste burning, at a bus station and close to a diesel generator. For CO, exceedances are revealed in kitchens and the visitor’s area of restaurants using biomass fuel, close to outdoor charcoal cooking and close to waste burning. For CO2, exceedances are found within student dormitories. These areas can be considered priority areas for further research. Students can conduct additional measurements to distinguish other relevant scenarios. Insight into exposure can be improved if, besides different concentrations under different circumstances, also time durations of these different circumstances are studied. The findings reveal that students themselves can be a partial solution to research and resource gaps in their context.

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An Evaluation of Best Practices in an Air Quality Student Science Project in Ethiopia

Cited by 2 publications

References 70 publications

Roadside PM2.5 concentrations measured with low-cost sensors and student science in Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Roadside PM2.5 concentrations measured with low-cost sensors and student science in Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Using student science to identify research priority areas for air pollution in a university environment: an Ethiopian case study

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