Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) Senior Scientist Moti Mittal has been awarded a grant by the United States Agency For International Development (USAID) for his research on transporting air pollutants from energy activities in India.
The grant, which totals more than $400,000, will be used over a 22-month period. Mittal said he plans to use the funding to develop customized software to trace air pollutants steaming from thermal power plants and vehicular transport. Specific objectives include correlating emission levels in specific geographic areas with respiratory diseases and agricultural yields. The software will also identify “hot spots” in India with respect to air pollutants, impact on human health, and economic development. The money will also be used to train personnel to use the software.
“This research could put OSC and Ohio at the forefront of tackling global problems and furthering international cooperation for scientific research,” said Mittal.
To date, a study to assess the Indian region’s air quality and effective mitigation strategies has not been conducted at the national or regional level.
Mittal said he formally applied for the grant in February 2003. He learned that he had been awarded the grant in early April 2003.
