Around 250 students from 16 colleges joined a multi-institutional research project for optical mapping of the Vembanad lake on Monday as part of a campaign by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) to promote citizen participation in scientific research.
Lake pollution
The research project is aimed at understanding the extent of pollution in the Vembanad lake, identifying their reservoirs in the ecosystem, mapping the distribution of vibrio carriers using remote-sensing techniques and developing forecast models that will serve to anticipate hotspots of microbial infection, says a press release here.
The study is jointly carried out by the CMFRI, National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Nansen Environmental Research Centre India (NERCI) and Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the U.K., under the India-U.K. Water Quality Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
The students started collecting data for the study using Secchi disc, a simple hand-held device to measure turbidity level of water, after undergoing training at the CMFRI. They were also trained to upload the data using a mobile app developed as part of the project. The study mainly focuses on mapping the hotspots of vibrio in the lake and developing a forecast model using remote-sensing technology. The students are from colleges in Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Kottayam districts.
CMFRI director A. Gopalakrishnan says the participation of students in the project will enhance the frequency and spatial extent of data collection, a crucial factor in a research initiative.
