Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,
So I am interested in the idea that space technology can be used to help mitigate climate change as found in this article,

https://www.esa.int/Applications/Teleco ... te_change

I was wondering if I can somehow use this research to come up with a science fair project on my own, such as how it says satellite data can reduce carbon emissions. The problem is I have little idea of how I can make this into a science fair project idea. I was thinking of using satellite data of where the most greenhouse gases are being emitted from but I am not sure of how to make that into a fully functioning idea. If you could offer some insight as to where I can go with this, that would be greatly aprecciated. Thank you so much.
-Aayati

Hiya!

This scientific concept is really interesting! I've read through the link you provided, and it seems very promising and a creative application of already existing technology. Now that you've found a topic that you'd like to dive further into (which most of the time is the hardest part), the next step is to figure out exactly what you want to research.

One common way approach to this step is to read research articles related to your topic! The link you provided mentions three specific scientists, Alex Ackerman, Yossef Shiri and Prof. Gerhard Güttler. I would recommend looking up these individuals and reading more on what their approaches are, and what they're currently working on. A google search brought me to the following link:

https://esnc.eu/winner/galileo-ecodrive ... -driving/#

You could look further into the mentioned patents to learn more about what they have done! Potentially, learning more about their solutions can serve as inspiration for your own project. Is there something in their approach that you want to learn more about or improve? The more niche of a question you choose, the easier it will be to examine and research. If you want to take a similar approach to what they have done, you could consider examining other variables that also affect fuel consumption that they did not take into account. Some examples I could think of would be traffic and the age of a vehicle. You could try building your own system that uses these variables in the calculation.

Something to also take in mind are potential limitations. As a high schooler, your access to labs and equipment may be limited. When choosing what you want to focus on, it is also important to see how your skills could be applied to the question. For example, if you know how to code, you could take a more computational approach. However, with a computational approach, you would need access to data to implement your approach. For example, you would have to find data that examines the relationship between traffic and fuel consumption and the relationship between vehicle age and fuel consumption. Finding a dataset can be difficult as a high school student. A website to try is:

http://re3data.org

Otherwise, if you're comfortable with microbiology and have access to a lab, you could take a wet-lab approach. Since this is a complicated topic, try researching professors nearby that research related topics. If you are able to get into contact with a professor, they could provide you with tips and guidance during the process.

Hope this helps!

- probiotics