• Air pollution – dispersion of pollutants, source apportionment, spatiotemporal variability of pollutant concentrations
  • Physics of the atmosphere – remote sensing, aerosols
  • Emerging environmental technologies – wireless distributed air quality sensor networks, atmospheric moisture harvesting
  • Estimating public/ individual exposure to air pollution (modeling)

Professional  Activities

2023-          Founding Editorial Board, Aerosol Research

2021-          Editorial board, Atmosphere

2018-2021  Member, committee for environmental epidemiology, Israel Ministry of Health

2016-2019  Editorial board, Environmental Pollution and Climate Change

2013-2019  Editorial board, Frontiers in Environmental Science (Environmental Informatics)

2012-2013  Editorial board, ISRN Atmospheric Sciences

2011           Member, expert panel on the implication to public health of mining/quarrying operations in Sde Barir, Ministry of Health

2010-2013  Member, committee for environmental epidemiology, Israel Ministry of Health

2009-2022 Editorial board, Ecology and Environment (Hebrew)

2009-2012  Member, Haifa Bay industry-community forum and its sub-committee for the preparedness of the community for large scale sudden disasters

2009, 2012 Member, committee for investigation of possible excess malignant morbidity among NAHAL brigade soldiers

2008-2013  Member, steering committee of the 15 municipalities forum for air quality improvement, Haifa

2005           Member, steering committee for the survey on the effects of air pollution on public health in the Haifa district

Graduate Students

PhD students

1)        A. Cohen, 2012, Development of a GIS-based decision supporting management tool for agricultural spraying for pest control

2)        Y. Etzion, 2012, Remote sensing of pollutants in the near ground atmosphere by hyperspectral imaging

3)        M. Sorek Hammer, 2015, Integration of satellite observations and ground monitoring data and its application for assessing exposure to PM in Israel

4)        D. Tratakovsky, 2017, Development of methodology for risk assessment as a result of large-scale area development and open pit phosphate mining

5)        S. Chen, 2019, Development and application of advanced methods for nationwide high-resolution air quality optimization-model

6)        G. Cohen, 2021, Prognostic importance of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions: comparison of different exposure metrics (Co-supervisor)

7)        S. Falah, Daily PM2.5 estimation by fusion of multiple earth observation satellite products

8)        I. Balachsan, Large-scale spatiotemporal characterization and modelling of factor-specific PM2.5 concentrations

 

MSc students

1)        M. Hadari, 2005, A 3D model for the light regime in an avocado orchard

2)        A. Gilelach, 2006, Characterization of plant cell wall as filtration and sorption media for toxic gases and fine aerosols

3)        N. Hirshel, 2006, The effects of vegetation on air quality parameters in urban setting

4)        O. Eitan, 2006, Testing for associations between cancer morbidity and exposure to PM10 and SO2 in the Haifa Bay area

5)        Y. Alkalai, 2008, Qualitative and quantitative characterization of airborne pollutants in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Israel

6)        N. Lati, 2009, The spatial variation of organic carbon and its soluble fraction in particulate matter in Haifa area

7)        A. Zalel, 2011, Modeling PAH concentrations in the Czech Republic

8)        M. Haim, 2011, Characterization of the temporal and spatial variability of air quality parameters in the Hadera region and their effect on local residents’ health

9)        M. Landau, 2012, The effects of transportation policy on urban air pollution

10)      J. Sheshnek, 2013, Utilization of distributed wireless sensor network for assessing exposure to air pollutants

11)      G. Noy, 2014, Development of a quantitative model for environmental impact assessment of a desalination plat: Shavei Zion case study

12)      M. Inibtawi, 2016, Car dust-bound concentrations of poly-brominated flame retardants and poly-aromatic compounds in Israel

13)      S. Nusbaum, 2016, Improved estimations of the energy balance and the heat storage change in Lake Kinneret using the Penman-Brutsaer and the Kalman Filter algorithms

14)      B. Gido, 2016, Harvesting atmospheric moisture by a liquid desiccant system and solar energy

15)      G. Sapir, 2020, Air pollution reduction through the implementation of circular economy principles and integrated production of energy and fertilizers

 

Postdoctoral Students

1)        Y. Zudman, 2003-2005, Spatiotemporal analysis of air pollution data for assessing chronic exposure

2)        T. Freiman, 2004-2005, The role of vegetation on air quality in urban surroundings – sub-urban variability of air quality proxies

3)        R. Rosenzweig, 2009, Deposition of fractal-like soot aggregates in the human respiratory tract

4)        I. Levi, 2011-2013, Distributed wireless sensor network for assessing exposure to traffic-related air pollution

5)        Y. Etzion, 2012-2014, Retrieval of fine multi-modal aerosol concentrations from ground remote sensing data

6)        S. Molchanov, 2014, Interference of environmental variables and pollutant concentrations in air quality measurements by a distributed wireless sensor network

7)        R. Shafran-Nathan, 2014-2017, Static and dynamic models of daily commute in Israel

8)        F. Kizel, 2015, Interference of cross-sensitivity in air quality measurements by a distributed wireless sensor network

9)        M. Sorek Hammer, 2015-2016, Satellite based estimation of PM2.5 and PM10 across Israel

10)      O. Zivan, 2017-2018, Characterization, distribution and source apportionment of ambient ultrafine particles in Haifa Bay area

11)      S. Chen, 2019, Exposure to ambient volatile organic compounds in Haifa Bay Area

 

Research Grants

2002–2004 International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC). Optimizing Resource Management under Spatial Uncertainty.

2002–2005 European Commission FP5. Integrated Exposure Management Tool for Characterizing Air Pollution Relevant Human Exposure in Urban Environment.

2004–2007 BARD. Elimination of Emissions of Ammonia and Hydrogen Sulfide from Confined Animal and Feeding Operations (CAFO) Using an Adsorption/Liquid-Redox Process with Biological Regeneration.

2005–2007 Israel Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). Assessing Chronic Population Exposure at a Sub-Urban Scale and Its Possible Associations to Morbidity in The Haifa Bay Area.

2007–2008 European Commission FP6. ENVIRISK – Assessing the risks of environmental stressors: contribution to development of integrating methodology.

2008–2011 Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP). Air Pollution Acute Health Effects in Ashdod Population – A Quantitative Analysis.

2009–2012 Environmental and Health Fund (EHF). Chronic Exposure to Air Pollution and Long-Term Outcomes after First Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

2011–2017 Environmental and Health Fund (EHF). The Technion Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH).

2012–2014 The Niedersachsen-Israel Research Cooperation Program. Inference of Aerosol and Land Use Interactions from Remote Sensing Data (AerosolLand).

2012–2016 European Commission FP7. CITI-SENSE – Development of sensor-based Citizens’ Observatory Community for improving quality of life in cities.

2014–2018 The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Technion-Shantou University Collaboration in Environmental Health.2015–2018 EURONANOMED II. The Airspace Dimension Test for Improved Diagnosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – ADT-COPD.

2015–2017 Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI). Short-term health effects of air pollutant emissions from limestone and dolomite quarries in Israel.

2016–2019 Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST). Improving Satellite Based PM2.5 and PM10 Estimation Across Israel.

2017–2022 Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP). Association between adolescent exposure to environmental pollution in Haifa Bay area, health status at age 17 and adult cancer incidence.

2017–2021 The joint ISF-UGC research grants program. Daily PM2.5 Estimation by Fusion of Multiple Earth-Observation Satellite Products.

2019–2022 Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP). Characterization, distribution and source apportionment of ambient ultrafine particles in Haifa Bay area.

2021–2022 Polak Fund for Applied Research. H2OLL – Atmospheric Moisture Harvesting using Liquid Descant.

2023–2024 Israel Innovation Authority (IIA). Extraction of atmospheric moisture as a solution for drinking water supply in remote areas. (H2OLL).

2023–2027 Israel Science Foundation (ISF). Exploring causal associations between emissions, meteorology, and ambient pollutant concentrations using data science tools.

2023–2027 Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP). Apportionment of observed PM2.5 to distinct sources and/or origins based on auxiliary data using data science methods.