An efficient and cost-effective solution to monitoring air pollution in cities

According to the World Health Organization, ambient air pollution causes over 4 million premature deaths annually. A vast majority of these fatalities occur in cities and the problem needs to be solved, especially as cities across the globe are undergoing an unprecedented level of growth in population.

The first step is to understand the nature of the air pollution: its composition, the levels of pollutants and where it is the most problematic. Conventional monitoring technology has advanced considerably in recent years, however the costs of deploying these analysers is prohibitive and cities can rarely afford the level of investment needed. However, Bettair have the technology to enable municipalities to deploy precise air quality sensors across cities on a scale previously considered to be too complex and expensive. This enables city councils to discover unknown pollution sources and find the areas where pollution levels are at their highest – and still have the budget to take the necessary action needed once the problem areas have been discovered. 

Bettair offer an extremely precise and large-scale pollution-mapping device which is ideal for smart cities and other, similar applications. Cities are then equipped with the insights and information they need to better understand and therefore reduce pollution. A network of static instruments is deployed in streetlights, or similar discrete locations, simply and in a dense matrix to enable an exceedingly spatial and temporal resolution.

bettair® provides cost-effective static nodes that are standalone sensor devices to achieve this level of accuracy and reliability. These nodes can be mains, battery or solar powered and they transmit data directly to a server for cloud processing. The nodes integrate electrochemical gas sensors to measure NO, NO2, CO, O3, SO2 and H2S in ppb or µg/m3    One optical particle counter measures for PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 (µg/m3) and also CO2 readings are available  in ppm or mg/m3.

The novel and advanced post-processing algorithm enable the sensors to operate with an amazing level of precision (Pearson Correlation over 90%), while running in the same range as conventional and far more costly monitoring stations. The bettair® nodes do not need to be calibrated in-situ; the algorithms are applied to the raw data taken from the gas sensors, also factoring the weather data taken from the sensors that are integrated into the device to achieve an excellent performance for low concentration measurement down to parts-per-billion (ppb) levels. 

The nodes use very low levels of power with their electronics and wireless network and are encased in IP65 rated housings. The lifetime of the electrochemical and particulate matter sensors is two years, during this period the data is guaranteed to be precise, however the sensor needs to be replaced after the two-year period, which is a simple task. 

The bettair®’s software enables the visualisation of the nodes and their status in real time. The platform displays all values of each node; it also allows operators to visualise a heatmap for each pollutant along with the Common Air Quality Index.

Bettair will be exhibiting at the upcoming AQE Exhibition in Telford, UK on 12th and 13th October.