Amity University Haryana's ACOAST (Amity Center of Excellence in Ocean-Atmospheric Science and Technology) organised a guest lecture on "Light and its Interaction with Airborne Particles - How We Measure Air Pollution in Philippine Cities" in partnership with the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM) in the Philippines on February 7th, 2023. The event's emphasis was on "Optical Remote Sensing of Aerosol Pollution." The session's invited guest speaker was Dr. Mylene Cayetano, Professor and University Scientist at the University of the Philippines.
Air quality is the area of expertise for Dr. Mylene Cayetano, a seasoned scientist with Clean Air Asia. Her study's main focus is modelling hazardous gas dispersion and cohort studies of particulate matter. The event's major objective was to investigate primary and secondary contaminants using optical techniques. She acquired data with great geographical and temporal precision that was helpful for predicting pollution. Scientists have been able to estimate the amounts of invisible anthropogenic airborne particles—tiny, common, repairable dusts prevalent in outdoor air—thanks to the discovery of the wave and particle duality of light. The focus on anthropogenic airborne particles has changed from its health consequences to its climatic implications as the subject of climate change has gained emphasis. Reducing the amount of airborne particles and their components is increasingly considered as a win-win approach to addressing the twin issues of air pollution and climate change as worries about the local and global effects of air pollution increase. In this session, we studied at how lasers, gratings, prisms, and mirrors may be used to determine the quality of the air in urban areas.
The notion that Aerosols or Particulate Matter (PM) reduce light mostly via absorption and scattering was one of the takeaways for the guests and attendees. Technology based on the "principle of light extinction" can be used to characterise aerosols; inversion of backscatter light intensity can result in air pollution levels anywhere; and measurements of light polarisation are crucial for recovering particle form. The workshop also covered how air pollution data, when paired with activity data, can estimate the dosage deposited on various human organs, which is crucial for research on health effect and risk. The students learned how environmental contamination and exposure to air pollution affect human health, and they also learned how to use cutting-edge technologies to assess air pollution. The results made it easier to comprehend the cutting-edge research projects that university students can do.
The students learned how environmental contamination and exposure to air pollution affect human health, and they also learned how to use cutting-edge technologies to assess air pollution. The results made it easier to comprehend the cutting-edge research projects that university students can do.