Stubble Burning and the Delhi Smoke Chamber

Introduction Here

So air pollution is a thing.   ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡✈︎⋆｡ ﾟ 

You might remember that

xxx

In Oosterwolde, families have the freedom to design their houses the way they want so long as a portion of their land goes toward farming. Led by Eduardo Diaz, faculty at Vrije University and resident of Oosterwolde, on the tour we saw natural sewage systems, green roofs, biodynamic farms, and a tiny house village (I had a tiny house obsession in seventh grade). We also ate a farm-fresh meal, made with ingredients that went from farm to table to stomach and discussed Vandana Shiva and the ecological damage caused by industrial farming. At the end of our bike back to the train station, we had logged 15 miles!

remote sensing stubble burning in the states of Punjab and Haryana in India and investigating their impact on air pollution. 

The vision was to create a dashboard that visualizes in real time the burning of cropland in these states which take place in late October and early November every year. This is one of the leading causes (although geography, vehicular emission and industry play important roles too) of the smog crisis in New Delhi. 

Every year in the months of October to December, AQI in the city goes over 400. I have experienced firsthand the health impacts of breathing this toxic air for weeks on end. 

My plan was to use planet data and the NBR burn index to visualize the fires. However I learned that planetscope only collects wavelengths up to around 1000nm, which means it does not capture shortwave infrared (SWIR) which is required for NBR. I have been in touch with the planet team about their new satellite but that SWIR data is not yet available. 

So I now have to switch to another source of imagery and another method. 

I also learned about the fire index that is being used to track active fires rather than burns, especially here in LA during the wildfire crisis: VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) satellite index.

The next mode of transit is the NS Intercity Train.

✩°｡🚈⋆⸜ ✮🛤₊⛓˚⊹♡

We first took the train to Delft for some lectures on spatial science replicability, and a project on green corridors at TU Delft. What followed was a tour of the campus.

This bike path, made entirely of recycled plastic, collects mobility data from pedestrians and cyclists that will be used to optimize traffic management systems.

After our official day was over, some of us trained to Delft's neighbour the Hague for a little adventure. It was pouring rain, but I really wanted to see the International Court of Justice, so we did that and also stopped for some hot noodle soup.

Rotterdam is a port city that was attacked by bombs during the second world war. The focus of the student-led tours here was post-WWII construction and brownfield development of former industrial sites.

The Cube Houses of Rotterdam are an example of post-WWII architecture built by architect Piet Blom. Blom, considered the People's Architect, wanted to dissolve the idea that a house must be recognizable as a house to be one and so he created this confluence of cubic trees. The site used to be a fisherman's village and the houses were built as ornamentation to a pedestrian bridge.

Walking: the next mode of transit.   ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ 

Walking was almost always the last-mile mode of transit on our excursions. However, in Noord Amsterdam, when we went to look at the infill development of formerly industrial sites, our primary mode of transit was walking... after all it was a walking tour.

The centrum of Amsterdam city is also full of pedestrians, a surprising amount of them tourists. Below are some pictures from the solo walks I went on in the city.

The final mode of transport is the boat! •.°𓊝༄𓇼

To explore the land of ships, we travelled by boat... and ferry and bus and train. Maasvlakte, Rotterdam is a part of the Rotterdam port, the biggest port in Europe, that was built on top of man-made islands—sustainably. We got to see the big machines used to displace sand in order to create these artificial islands. And we learned about the measures that the port authority took to ensure the biodiversity impacted by this project was protected. The Dutch have an impressive history of land management and manipulating water. Most of the Netherlands would be underwater today if not for the polder system that channelized water into canals and made land viable for real estate and farming.

It was incredibly enjoyable getting to experience all these different modes of transport that the Netherlands has to offer. Travelling with friends and strangers alike, gave me a sense of identity and yet of anonymity. I think the best cities must have robust and varied public transit system that allow everyone to feel this way. I believe it is a big contributor to personal happiness, to feel seen, and to feel one with your community. My favorite mode of transport is still the bike because it doubles as a workout. I read somewhere that bikers are the happiest commuters and my personal experience confirms that!

On our last day, after a wonderful farewell dinner at Cafe en de Waag, we went on a slightly different boat ride, a wine-and-cheese canal boat tour of the city.

Our trip started with the yellow bike tour, ended with a canal boat tour, and involved a whole lot of public transporting in the middle.

And you bet that on our last night, the roads did indeed lead to Leidseplein.