Google announced on July 29, Wednesday that its Earth Outreach has teamed up with the startup company Aclima during the last 1.5 years. The two companies have added air quality sensors to Google's Street View vehicles, with the goal of mapping high levels of smog and air pollution in urban environments, in order to improve city planning and public health.
Aclima founder Davida Herzl stated that city designing is often conducted without data, according to Tech Crunch. This has resulted in higher levels of pollution.
Three Google Street View cars first gathered 150 million air-quality data points during a month of driving in Denver, Colorado. They measured hazardous chemicals to breathe, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen dioxide.
The main objective is to provide such data to citizens. Then city and local governments can track pollution levels on various streets.
Independent studies have confirmed that the system is effective in gathering street-by-street data that could improve the sensor network of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Herzl hopes that the information will one day be as easy to access as weather reports.
Google is planning a larger rollout of air-quality mapping. It will involve a purchase of more outdoor sensors from Aclima for data collection in various United States regions including the San Francisco Bay Area. The objective is to eventually use the sensors in any region where the Street View cars drive, according to The Verge.
During Aclima's first project it teamed up with Google. It used its sensor to measure air quality in the tech giant's offices, in order to maximize productivity.
Herzl explained that trees absorb nitrogen dioxide (NO2). By learning where pollution hotspots are located, city planners can know where to position green spaces.
She stresses that her company is not just using the Internet of Things to connect appliances to Wi-Fi, for example. It is striving to make cities and people healthier.