London Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched a new, street-by-street monitoring system that will help to improve that capital’s air quality. From July 2018, and operating for a year, London will benefit from what is being described as the world’s most sophisticated air quality monitoring system. A consortium involving academia, an environmental charity, and commercial partners will install a network of 100 multiparameter AQMesh air quality monitors, whilst also operating two Google Street View cars that will map air pollution at an unprecedented level of detail.
Air Monitors Ltd will supply the AQMesh pods and manage data from all the sensor systems, so that air quality can be visualised and mapped in almost real-time. Working closely with the Greater London Authority, the project will be run by a team of air quality experts led by the charity Environmental Defense Fund Europe, in partnership with Air Monitors Ltd., Google Earth Outreach, Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants, University of Cambridge, National Physical Laboratory, King’s College London and the Environmental Defense Fund team in the United States.
Air Monitors Managing Director Jim Mills says: “It is difficult to underestimate the importance of this project – traditional monitoring networks provide essential information to check compliance against air quality standards, but this network will be ‘hyperlocal’ by which we mean that it will deliver street-level air quality data, which will be of tremendous interest to the public and also enable the effective assessment of air quality interventions.
“The Google Street View cars will take readings every 30 meters, helping us to find pollution hot-spots, so that AQMesh pods can be positioned in these locations. However, the pods are wireless and independently powered, so they can also be quickly and easily fixed to lamp posts in other sensitive locations such as schools.”
In addition to nitrogen dioxide and particulates, which are the pollutants of greatest concern, the pods will also measure ozone, nitric oxide, carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity and pressure. Data will sent, near real-time, to Air Monitors’ cloud-based data management system, which can be accessed by PC, tablet or smartphone by authorised partners, using an assigned login.
The monitoring data will provide baseline air quality data that will be essential in the assessment of mitigation measures, particularly in London’s expanding ultra-low emission zone. For example, on 20th June 2018, Sadiq Khan, announced the creation of the largest double-decker electric bus fleet in Europe, and the new monitoring network will enable the assessment of this initiative’s impact on air quality.
“This project will provide a step change in data collection and analysis that will enable London to evaluate the impact of both air quality and climate change policies and develop responsive interventions,” said Executive Director for Environmental Defense Fund Europe, Baroness Bryony Worthington. “A clear output of the project will be a revolutionary air monitoring model and intervention approach that can be replicated cost-effectively across other UK cities and globally, with a focus on C40 cities.”
Mark Watts, C40, Executive Director said: “Almost every major city in the world is dealing with the threat of toxic air pollution, which is taking an incredible toll on the health of citizens, public finances, quality of life and contributing to climate change. London is already a world leader in responding to this global threat and with this initiative it will set a new global standard for how street level air quality monitoring can inform strategic policy making. Cities across the C40 network and around the world will be watching closely to understand how this monitoring can deliver cleaner air for their citizens.”
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More about Breathe London:-
https://breathelondon.edf.org/
https://www.globalcleanair.org/files/2021/01/BL-Mobile-Instruments-and-Stationary-Sensors.pdf
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About Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund Europe is a registered charity (1164661) in England and Wales. A recently established affiliate of leading international non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the organisation links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships to create transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. Connect with us at edf.org/europe, on Twitter and on our EDF Voices, EDF+Business and Energy Exchange blogs.
About Air Monitors Limited
Air Monitors is the UK’s leading air quality monitoring company, supplying and supporting instrumentation to central government, local authorities, research and industry. Air Monitors supplies and supports AQMesh in the UK and will also provide and maintain the equipment within the Google Street View cars in the project.
About AQMesh
AQMesh is a fully developed and independently evaluated small sensor outdoor air quality monitoring system, manufactured in the UK by Environmental Instruments Ltd. and in use worldwide since 2012.
About Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants
Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC) are world leading developers of air quality modelling software. Their renowned ADMS-Urban model will be used together with the sensor data to generate hyper-local air quality mapping both for nowcasts and forecasts, and for policy studies.
About Google Earth Outreach
Google Earth Outreach is a program from Google designed specifically to help non-profit and public benefit organisations around the world leverage the power of Google Maps and Cloud technology to help address the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems.
About the National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
NPL is the UK’s National Measurement Institute, providing the measurement capability that underpins the UK’s prosperity and quality of life. Every day our science, engineering and technology makes a difference to some of the biggest national and international challenges, including addressing air quality issues. http://www.npl.co.uk/about/what-is-npl/
About University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry
The University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry is a world leading research and teaching institution. At Cambridge, the Centre for Atmospheric Science has played a primary role in the development of low-cost sensors for air quality monitoring and in the development of techniques for analysing and interpreting measurements from sensor networks.
About the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
Around the world, C40 Cities connects 96 of the world’s greatest cities to take bold climate action, leading the way towards a healthier and more sustainable future. Representing 700+ million citizens and one quarter of the global economy, mayors of the C40 cities are committed to delivering on the most ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement at the local level, as well as to cleaning the air we breathe. The current chair of C40 is Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo; and three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the Board. C40’s work is made possible by our three strategic funders: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and Realdania.
