A research group from the Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria of the Politecnico di Milano, led by Prof. Giorgio Guariso, participates in the AgriAir project funded by Fondazione Cariplo as part of the "Data Science for Science and Society" call and coordinated by the Università degli Studi di Brescia.
Fondazione Cariplo’s intent is to support research projects enhancing the understanding of complex and socially relevant issues thanks to the methods and techniques of data science, an interdisciplinary field of study aimed at extracting knowledge from data for the development of future scenarios and innovative solutions.
More specifically, AgriAir starts from the assessments of the European Environment Agency which estimates that in Italy air pollution is responsible for 90,000 premature deaths per year, mainly due to the high concentrations of particulate matter. A significant fraction of this particulate matter is produced in the atmosphere by the reactions between various gaseous components, including ammonia, almost totally emitted by agricultural and livestock activities. This phenomenon particularly characterizes the Po Valley, where the levels of atmospheric pollutants, especially fine dust, are often critical, and have a very negative impact on the population health. There is therefore a strong connection between air quality – and its effects on health – and the entire chain of agri-food production.
The AgriAir project, thanks to the processing of a large amount of environmental, economic and social data and through the use of an integrated modeling system, intends to support decision makers in choosing efficient measures to reduce emissions from agriculture and animal husbandry, evaluating possible technological and behavioral solutions, in terms of costs and benefits, impacts on health, energy and fossil fuel savings.
Another equally important goal of the project is the definition and implementation of communication, citizen engagement and citizen science tools to raise awareness of both stakeholders and the population.