Origin and Potential Control of Air Pollution in Katmandu Valley, Nepal

Urban air pollution is a growing threat to sustainability in many developing countries. It affects not only the health of local residents, but also, increasingly, pollution and climate on a global scale. Governments in developing countries have far fewer resources to address the problem than do governments in developed countries facing similar problems. At the same time, the climates, emissions patters, and socio-political systems in many developing countries are sufficiently different that a direct “transfer” of knowledge and of “solutions” from developed countries alone will not solve the problems.

The goal of this research is to study the processes that control air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The Kathmandu Valley is a mountain-enclosed valley with a rapidly growing city in a developing country with very few resources and little previous scientific data.

(*) Measure the chemical composition of the valley’s air using modern remote sensing instruments as well as with an in-situ measurement station

(*) Use a sodar (acoustic sounder) to measure the vertical profile of winds that transport the pollutants and to determine the temporal evolution of the depth of the surface mixed layer where the pollution accumulates.

(*) Improve the database of emissions within and upwind from the valley