| NSF Org: |
CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 7, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 19, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1848683 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Bruce Hamilton
CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,000,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,162,931.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2020 = $63,000.00 FY 2021 = $99,931.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
633 CLARK ST EVANSTON IL US 60208-0001 (312)503-7955 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
2145 Sheridan Road, A314 Evanston IL US 60208-3100 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
GCR-Growing Convergence Resear, SSA-Special Studies & Analysis, EnvE-Environmental Engineering, GOALI-Grnt Opp Acad Lia wIndus, Hydrologic Sciences, EnvS-Environmtl Sustainability |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
The inability to assess and predict the extent and impact of extreme weather conditions within cities is a critical vulnerability. Urban floods come from overflowing rivers and streams as well as insufficient drainage from impervious surface structures. The lack of neighborhood-scale forecasts for flooding hampers social and public health intervention efforts. Similar limitations exist for air quality and heat island/temperature impacts. This research project will combine perspectives from natural, social, data and engineering sciences to improve the prediction of weather patterns, air quality, flooding, and social and economic impacts at the neighborhood scale. Sensor installations and model simulations will be used to examine the potential for green infrastructure to reduce flooding, moderate heat waves, and improve air quality locally and across the region. Models that integrate across rainfall, topography, urban infrastructure and impervious surfaces are not currently viable or available. This research project will enable the integration of water routing mechanisms that were previous treated separately and can now be considered as portions of a larger more complex problem. Project results will be directly used for vulnerability assessment and infrastructure design in Chicago neighborhoods.
This convergence project will catalyze new multi-level urban assessment and prediction capabilities; yield new capacity for city-scale simulations of links between weather, infrastructure, and population vulnerability; and demonstrate the application of this new systems-level prediction framework to adaptive green infrastructure design. The principle components of the project include (1) installation and utilization of remote and distributed sensing to measure impacts; (2) high-resolution infrastructure/environmental models that elucidate links between severe weather, urban infrastructure, and vulnerability; and (3) an assessment of co-occurring social and economic impacts as a result of extreme weather, infrastructure and urban topography. Many graduate students and postdocs will be directly engaged in the project. The project will contribute vulnerability maps to local jurisdictions and will encourage government and public/private discourse on urban vulnerability to extreme weather as well as potential resilience strategies. Project data will be publicly available through the Chicago Data Portal.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project assessed the vulnerability of cities to extreme weather and developed strategies to reduce these vulnerabilities. The project conducted assessments of extreme weather conditions, air quality, flooding, and community health impacts with a wide range of partner organizations in the Chicago metro area. The project team worked with community organizations to understand the effects of extreme weather on urban residents, and engaged conservation and planning organizations to evaluate potential nature-based solutions for these problems. The advancements made by the project allow better pinpointing of extreme precipitation, poor air quality, and neighborhood flooding. Project-generated data and tools support improved land use planning and nature-based solutions to alleviate the negative effects of extreme weather.
Research supported by this grant developed methods to better measure and predict urban microclimate, air pollutants, and flooding at neighborhood scales. The project used advanced weather radars to obtain high-resolution information on rainfall rates and patterns in cities. The project also built and deployed distributed sensor networks to directly measure air quality and flooding in urban neighborhoods. The project team used the resulting data with models to determine how changes in urban land use, transportation systems, and stormwater infrastructure can reduce impacts from heat waves, poor air quality, and flooding.
Surveys and interviews showed that Chicago residents have a high level of concern about extreme weather events, but minimal knowledge on how to mitigate the impacts of these events. The survey results also show the importance of communities understanding the function of greenspace in their neighborhood. Communities prioritized green infrastructure solutions that meet multiple needs, such as community greenspaces that provide benefits for recreation, air quality, and flood management.
The project substantially improved methods for assessing the effects of nature-based solutions such parks, green streets, and nature preserves on flooding in urban neighborhoods. This enables development of more usable greenspaces, such as community gardens and schools, that both support community activity and provide protection against flooding. Monitoring schemes and sensor networks developed in this research are now used for green infrastructure management by governmental and community-based organizations across the Chicago area.
Project results have informed urban planning, sustainability, vulnerability, and climate resilience efforts in Chicago. Project-generated data, information systems, and modeling tools are used in urban vulnerability assessments and land-use planning, particularly for vulnerability to extreme weather events such as storms and heat waves. Instrumentation and data analysis tools have been transferred to partners who own and manage sites, including the Chicago Park District, The Nature Conservancy, and the Academy for Global Citizenship (a Chicago Public Charter School). Project results are also used by government agencies that are responsible for designing infrastructure to reduce extreme weather impacts, such as the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Improved greenspace designs and monitoring strategies are being incorporated into county-wide programs for flooding reduction.
Additional project efforts focused on improving community health. A partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) supported activities included mapping environmental health disparities, new methods to monitor COVID-19 prevalence, and strategies to reduce health inequities. This partnership yielded a new Chicago-area working group focused on vulnerability assessment for extreme events, such as heat waves, that can be used to target regional investments and guide emergency response. Project-generated tools were also used to develop wastewater-based methods for pandemic monitoring. The project team designed strategies for sampling sewer systems to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 infections, with sampling locations selected based on the sewer system configuration, community vulnerability, and total population coverage. This wastewater surveillance program was implemented by CDPH in 2021 and is currently used to monitor both COVID-19 and influenza.
Last Modified: 12/30/2022
Modified by: Aaron Packman
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