New open-source technologies universalising access to cooling

The Your VCCA project team from Empa and BASE have made openly available several new technologies in the framework of the data.org project.

1. Li D., Gajardo J., Volpi M., Defraeye T. (2022), Using machine learning to generate an open-access cropland map from satellite images time series in the Indian Himalayan Region. engrXiv. preprint DOI.

As a part of the open-access map of India on Google Earth Engine, a new layer was developed and documented that identifies cropland from satellite images in India at a 10-meter resolution using machine learning.

2. Defraeye T., Shoji K., Schudel S., Onwude D., Shrivastava C. (2022), Evaporative coolers for postharvest storage: where to best use them and how well do they work? engrXiv. preprint DOI.

3. Defraeye T., Schudel S., Shrivastava C., Motmans T., Umani K., Crenna E., Shoji K., Onwude D. (2022), The charcoal cooling blanket: A scalable, simple, self-supporting evaporative cooling device for preserving fresh foods. engrXiv. preprint DOI.

4. Evaporative Cooling Potential Map: https://empasimbiosys.github.io/evapo_cooling_map/

A new type of passive evaporative cooler was developed for smallholder farmers that helps them store their fresh produce after harvest. In warm areas, often, a lot of quality is lost immediately after harvest. However, in remote areas, energy to cool produce is not always available. This cooler only needs water to work and is easy to produce using just textile and charcoal. DIY instructions with a video are online now. In addition, the team developed and documented open-access maps to identify how good evaporative coolers work in the world. That way, these evaporative coolers are only used where and when it makes sense to use them.

5. You L., Schudel S., Defraeye T. (2022), Developing of biophysical food for monitoring postharvest supply chains for avocado and potato and deploying of biophysical apple. engrXiv. preprint DOI.

Finally, the team developed a newer version of their artificial food sensor device that helps cooling service providers to monitor better the cooling process in their micro-scale solar-powered cooling facilities. The artificial fruits and vegetables can be packed deep inside the cargo and help detect problematic locations that cool slower than others. Next to apple, banana, mango, and citrus, now also artificial avocado and potato sensing devices were developed.