The Commonwealth Scholarships (CSC) awards have declared a staff of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Dr. Ikpaya David Ikpaya as the winner of the 2022 Research Impact Awards (RIA) Topical Prize for his clean energy-related research aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change on the environment.
A statement by the NASRDA spokesman, Dr. Felix Ale said Dr. Ikpaya’s article ‘Development of SHACS: Progress on Channel-1 Prototype Demonstrator’, published in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing journal, is an atmospheric CO2 monitoring instrument suitable for both space-based and terrestrial-based observations.
Ikpaya is a 2017 Rutherford Fellow who bagged a post-doctoral degree in remote sensing instrumentation at the University of Surrey. Ikpaya’s article explores the design and build of a spaceborne atmospheric carbon-dioxide monitoring instrument known as a spatial heterodyne atmospheric carbon-dioxide spectrometer (SHACS).
According to the report, with various countries seeking to reduce carbon emissions in response to the global climate crisis, the SHACS instrument provides a cost-effective and affordable means for monitoring atmospheric CO2 levels globally.
The report added that due to its compact configuration, the instrument fits into a micro-satellite size platform and can provide high-quality, hourly measurements of atmospheric CO2 concentration to inform policymakers.
This research, initially funded by the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), has received a wide range of interest from the space sector and academia as it is a compact, robust, cost-effective and high-performance instrument suitable for both space-based and in-situ observations.
The CSC Research Impact Awards (RIA) celebrates the research and publication endeavours of Commonwealth scholars and alumni at the early and mid-career researcher stages.
The annual awards are offered through two streams and promote the important research undertaken by doctoral Commonwealth scholars and alumni and its value to international development.
