2023 NASA SEES Virtual Interns Study Urban Heat Island and Air Quality - Olawale Ayodeji Oluwafemi

For the past three years, the GLOBE Mission Earth (GME) Team at the University of Toledo, Ohio has been teaching and mentoring NASA-SEES high school students across the United States in the study of the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) and Air Quality. In 2023, the NASA-SEES High School Virtual Internship Program had 20 interns for both the UHIE and Air Quality Groups.

During the 6-week virtual training, interns conducted research on the topics of their choice and met virtually three times a week to complete their projects. They also completed weekly assignments.

For the UHIE investigations, students conducted their research in Google Earth Engine (GEE), using GLOBE in-situ observations, and applied remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to satellite imagery and socio-economic datasets. Five UHIE research projects were completed by 10 Interns. The students’ names, high schools and research topics (along with Youtube links to their final presentations) are listed below.       

List of 2023 NASA SEES Virtual Urban Heat Island Team

For the Air Quality Group, ten SEES interns participated in the group and another three student interns (two with NASA Langley Research Center and one with the University of Toledo) participated in the five-week virtual program this year. Small sensors, e.g. PurpleAir sensors were used in most students’ projects. The topics included: ER visits due to asthma, economic factors, visibility, and airline cancellation, PM 2.5 levels in urban and suburban areas, PM2.5 in coastal and mainland areas, indoor and outdoor PM 2.5 comparison, and comparing different types of small sensors. Moreover, students were able to utilize real-time data from small sensors on special situations, such as wildfires in Canada and California, and fireworks across the U.S. on Independence Day.

The table below lists the students, their high schools, and the titles of their projects, along with YouTube links to their final presentations.      

List of 2023 NASA SEES Air Quality Group Team

   Finally, the mentors are looking forward to the commencement of NASA SEES 2024 Virtual Internship Program.