A network of air quality sensors is to be set up around Hull as part of the effort to reduce pollution in the city.
Smart city technology provider Connexin, which has deployed a long range wide area network (LoRaWAN) used by Hull City Council, has said it will begin to install the sensors over the next few weeks.
They will be supplied by a number of manufacturers and collect real time data on air quality, taking in a range of metrics including levels of carbon dioxide, hydrogeon sulphide and nitrogen dioxide.
The number has not yet been decided, but the company has said it will continue to install them until has a good picture of the local environment. The early installations will be in more highly used areas such as schools, hospitals, major roadways and high streets.
Data will be fed into the Connexin City-OS platform, where it will be combined with machine learning algorithms and cloud based analytics and visualised on a map that the company plans to publish as a publicly available resource.
Better understanding
Connexin’s chief executive officer Furqan Alamgir said this would make it possible to better understand air pollution in Hull and how best to tackle it.
“The World Health Organization estimates that 4.6 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution. In our view, that’s 4.6 million too many,” he said.
“As a company focused on building smarter infrastructure and healthier communities we’re fortunate to have access to cutting edge sensor and Lorawan technology. We felt we had a duty to act.”
This follows the company’s involvement in a pilot run by the city council on the use of smart bins around the city.
Image: Old Town, Hull, by Robert Haywood, CC BY-SA 2.0
