University of Hawaii teams are launching two research projects supported by a combined $519,000-plus in federal grants to examine the environmental effects of the Maui wildfires and develop stronger solutions.
One study, dubbed AgriWatch, is funded with a $268,472 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and “aims to bring real-time monitoring and accurate assessments” of agricultural lands in a disaster, a UH news release said.
A separate study of the possible effects of toxic chromium on Lahaina agricultural lands is funded with a $250,942 grant from the USDA institute.
For AgriWatch, artificial intelligence, satellite remote sensing, cloud computing and web applications will be used to create data about Maui’s agricultural areas. The team will assemble high-resolution maps for fire and vegetation conditions, and create an online platform for near real-time disaster monitoring and impact assessment.
Objectives include filling gaps in knowledge and data about crop types, providing open data access and online tools for disaster monitoring and assessment, restoring food production and mitigating disaster risks. The project is scheduled to be ready to use by November 2024.
“The unprecedented destruction, loss of life and extensive damage to Maui’s agricultural areas revealed a critical need for real-time monitoring and accurate disaster impact assessments,” Qi Chen, project director and geography professor in the College of Social Sciences at UH Manoa, said in the release. “The goal of AgriWatch is to understand vulnerabilities, mitigate risks and foster resilient agriculture practices by developing rapid response and impact monitoring and assessment capabilities for disasters related to fire and agriculture in Hawaii.”
Collaborations are planned with farmer- supporting organizations statewide, and high school and undergraduate students will be invited to participate in research activities.
The chromium project, meanwhile, aims to “investigate the abundance of the toxic chromium in the Maui wildfire-impacted soil, and develop cost effective and practical bioremediation strategies,” the UH release said.
Hawaii’s volcanic soils naturally contain large amounts of chromium, a heavy metal that initially isn’t toxic. However, when chromium is heated it can become highly toxic and spread easily. Toxic chromium can affect people through direct skin contact, dust inhalation and drinking water consumption, the release said.
Tao Yan, a UH Manoa College of Engineering and Water Resources Research Center professor, along with his team will use field sampling and laboratory experiments to study how the wildfires have affected the toxic chromium levels in agricultural and forest soils.
The team will also test mulching and acidic compost amendments as bioremediation strategies to reduce the toxic soil.
“The anticipated impact is not limited to the improved understanding of the wildfires’ impact on the toxic chromium soil and the development of bioremediation strategies, but also to educate and communicate the associated public health risks to the impacted communities,” Yan said.
