Defragmenting the fragmented urban landscape

EarthSense has announced that its Zephyr® air quality monitors will be deployed by Cranfield University at various locations across Bedford, Luton, and Milton Keynes as part of a wider £2.5 million DEFRAG project.

The Defragmenting the fragmented urban landscape (DEFRAG) project, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), will run until November 2026. This initiative brings together scientists, including experts from Cranfield University, to study how green spaces, blue spaces, and urban infrastructures interact and affect air quality, biodiversity, and water management. The project will identify barriers to developing greener urban infrastructures and provide valuable insights into how urban planning impacts biodiversity. The resulting data will inform the design of healthier, more resilient towns and cities in the future.

Cranfield University will deploy Zephyr® air quality monitors at various green spaces in Bedford, Milton Keynes, and Luton, areas that are impacted by nearby road pollution. The monitors will track key pollutants such as NO, NO2, PM1, PM2.5, PM10, CO, and CO2 over a 6–12-month period, allowing researchers to assess the role of green infrastructure in improving air quality.

Dr Zaheer Nasar, Reader in Atmospheric Aerosols at Cranfield University, said: “We have deployed Zephyrs® from EarthSense for previous air quality projects so they were the obvious choice when we were looking for monitors for air quality measurements as a part of the DEFRAG project. These monitors will measure the concentrations of air pollutants over time and across different seasons and the data collected will help us understand how various types of green spaces in urban areas affect and potentially reduce air pollution.”

Professor Ronald Corstanje, Professor of Data Sciences and Head of the Cranfield Environment Centre, added: “The findings from DEFRAG will be valuable in informing urban planning and policy, ensuring that the ways in which we build our cities in the future are healthy and resilient.”

Greg Lewis, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at EarthSense, concluded: “We’re delighted that we will be able to continue our relationship with Cranfield University by delivering Zephyr® monitors that will support the air quality monitoring for the DEFRAG project. The project promises to be a major step forward in establishing a greater understanding of the mechanisms through which green spaces impact the air quality in the area.”

In addition to Cranfield University, other collaborators in the DEFRAG project include the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Sheffield University, The Alan Turing Institute, and various stakeholders from Bedford, Luton, and Milton Keynes.