Outdoor air quality
Measuring CO2 and other gases
Outdoor Air Quality and environmental measurements
Urbanisation clearly shows that air pollution affects our own health and the environment in densely populated areas. We do not have a solution for that, but we strongly believe that measuring is a good way to scientifically prove what we need to do.
Ninety-seven per cent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities.
Before the Industrial Revolution, CO₂ levels did not exceed 300 ppm. In 2013, CO2 levels surpassed 400 ppm for the first time in recorded history. This relentless rise in CO2 exposes the constant relationship between fossil-fuel burning and CO2 levels.
We make sensors that measure carbon dioxide and air quality for people all around the globe in order to make better decisions - for yourself, the environment, and your fellow humans.
Sensors do not provide fresh air, but we believe in the following statement from the book Freakonomics by Levitt: "Knowing what to measure and how to measure it makes a complicated world much less so".
Learn More About Outdoor air quality
Our projects
Sometimes, the excellent developmental resources at Senseair act as consultants in external projects. One of them is the FLAIR-project.
FLAIR in an acronym for flying ultra-broadband single-shot infra-red sensor. The concept is a high-performance air sampling sensor based on cutting-edge photonic technology mounted on a UAV (drone). FLAIR contributes to a safer environment by providing detailed air quality data, e.g. around industrial infrastructure, highways, and ships, or in cases of catastrophic events like wildfires, volcanic eruptions, or chemical accidents.
Air pollution emitted by anthropogenic and/or natural sources constitutes a significant risk factor for a number of severe health conditions, e.g. lung cancer and stroke. According to a 2014 WHO report, air pollution caused the deaths of 7 million people worldwide in 2012. In Europe, air pollution is estimated to cause more than 300,000 premature deaths each year. The total annual economic cost of air pollution-related helath impacts is estimated to be in excess of US$ 1.5 trillion.
Today, significant effort is devoted globally to improve air quality through land-use planning strategies, replacement of fossil fuels to clean energy sources, and lower levels of industrial emission, for example. In order to be successful, these measures need be accompanied by large scale air quality monitoring to ensure compliance with air quality legislation, but also to provide information for political decision-making regarding air quality and safety. This is particularly challenging outside the dense urban network of air quality monitoring stations. With the sensor being mounted on a remotely controlled medium size UAV (operational range 80 km, max. ceiling altitude 4,000 m), FLAIR provides large scale, pervasive air-quality monitoring data. Monitoring targets include industrial infrastructure, maritime and land-based traffic, landfills and agriculture. Importantly, due to its high sensitivity and selectivity, the FLAIR sensor will not only provide information about a single molecular species or contamination but is capable of identifying a priori unexpected substances. With its additional sub-micron fine particle detection capability (enabled via a hybrid-approach), FLAIR aims at generating a complete picture of air quality.
Another project is this Swiss solution where you can find our sensor.
Our K30 sensor is used in the Sensor Networks for Air Quality (SNAQ). The project is equipped with low-cost sensors and has been running since 2011 in several places around Europe (Heathrow Airport, for example).
Drones can be used to measure air quality. Our LPL sensor is up and flying in a research project (Martin Kunz, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Germany).
You can also read about the ULISSES project.
