Roadside Pollution Monitoring to assist the Spanish Traffic Police

Casella (UK) has been selected by the Spanish Traffic Police to participate in a working group assessing data provided by the instruments included in a month-long trial of roadside monitoring enclosure systems (Romons) under strict motorway testing conditions.

Casellas integrated Romon, that encompasses, for the first time, both ambient gas and particulates and environmental noise equipment in one system, was included in the recent trials along with other cabins.

The objective of the Spanish Traffic Police is to regulate traffic by the use of roadside ambient pollution monitoring systems on Spains major highways as part of a network-wide traffic management system for air pollution control, using the data to automatically control speed restrictions when contamination reaches trigger levels,.

Casella managed the difficult task of installing the monitoring system at night on the central reservation of the A6 motorway, which runs from Madrid to Galicia in the north-west. The cabin, fully fitted out and compliant to the strict requirements of the Traffic Police, enables them to monitor ambient gases, pollutants and noise simultaneously.

The Romon consists of: A large, secure metal enclosure; Gas analysers for CO and NOx with calibration system; A Particulate analyser, BAM 1020 with PM10; Three sampling pumps;
A CEL environmental noise analyser; Enview data management software; Air conditioning; Two modems and Technical support from Casella UK in both development and online help.

The working group will also advise on other matters of interest to the traffic department, as well as making its final selections and defining and establishing the technical specifications for the chosen equipment.