Scientists unveil new pollution sensor project

A new strategy designed to boost air quality and ease traffic congestion in the UK has been unveiled this week.

In Tyne and Wear, scientists have implemented a set of air monitoring sensors that will also keep track of noise pollution, vehicle count and temperature in the area.

This will allow greater monitoring of these factors and give a clearer picture of which areas are suffering the most from congestion and poor air quality.

The scheme was rolled out with the assistance of the Mobile Environmental Sensing Systems Across Grid Environments project.

Professor Bill Blythe from Newcastle University, where the scheme was developed, explained that the devices are ideal as they are low-cost and compact.

"Other cities in the UK and around the world, such as New York and New Delhi are interested in replicating what we're doing here," he added.

Elsewhere, in Iran's capital city, the Tehran Air Quality Control Company announced this week that a series of small air monitoring stations will be introduced across the area in April.