EarthSense Systems reveals cleaner air routes in city-wide project

A project has been launched to produce city-wide visualisations of air quality through combining EarthSense Systems' (ESS) ordnance survey (OS) geospatial data and real-time air quality data. The technology, a joint venture between Bluesky and University of Leicester, is being used to highlight areas of higher pollution and allows users to identify cleaner air routes such as parks or canal routes. ESS captures measurements on air quality through using a zephyr sensor and a city-wide network of sensors.
October 13, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

A project has been launched to produce city-wide visualisations of air quality through combining EarthSense Systems' (ESS) ordnance survey (OS) geospatial data and real-time air quality data.

The technology, a joint venture between Bluesky and University of Leicester, is being used to highlight areas of higher pollution and allows users to identify cleaner air routes such as parks or canal routes.

ESS captures measurements on air quality through using a zephyr sensor and a city-wide network of sensors. It delivers data forecasting, master planning and confirms cleaner cycling routes by combining with other inputs such as satellite observations, weather conditions and traffic emission data in its MappAir modelling solution. The data is available hourly, with a three day forecast, and historically, with resolutions ranging from 1m for detailed study areas to 10m for full city maps, and 100m for the national picture.

The OS Open Greenspace product is used to communicate EarthSense’s modelled air quality levels; depicting the location and extent of recreational and leisure facilities. The features included within the data are parks, play spaces, golf courses and allotments. In addition, the OS Maps app allows users to view the greenspace information and assists them with locating greenspaces in their local area.

Philip Wyndham, strategic development manager at the Ordance survey, said, “The insights gained from such modelling can also be used by policy makers and city planners to make practical interventions around mitigating hot spots – such as traffic light phasing, coordination of streetworks or correctly maintained urban trees and hedges which can trap many harmful pollutants."

Air Quality & Weather Systems

Related Content

  • Eco Multi monitors London walking and cycling routes
    September 3, 2012
    Traffic Technology Ltd. has revealed its involvement over the last three years with Transport for London (TfL) in developing and deploying monitoring systems for the London Olympics 2012 games walking and cycling routes. The company supplied its Eco Multi pedestrian and cycle monitoring systems which have been installed in four locations on the eight designated ‘2012 Games Walking & Cycling Routes’. Traffic Technology says the unique ‘click and lock’ modular system of the Eco Multi enables several units to
    Read More
  • Venkat Sumantran: ‘Smart cities are more hype than reality’
    November 23, 2018
    For all the talk of smart cities, investment in systems lags significantly behind organic expansion in most places. Andrew Stone talks to Venkat Sumantran, who has been looking at how to create a coherent framework which could help authorities answer multiple mobility questions Two megatrends are posing unprecedented challenges to those trying to keep people moving around the world’s urban areas now - and in the years and decades to come. The first is rapid urbanisation. One in six of us lived in urban a
    Read More
  • TfL launches app to aid social distancing
    August 25, 2020
    App provides accessibility information for disabled users, TfL says. 
    Read More
  • Mobility as a Service gaining traction in US and Europe
    December 15, 2015
    As Mobility as a Service starts to move into the mainstream of transport planning, David Crawford compares European and North American initiatives. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a concept fast gaining traction on both sides of the Atlantic as a way of giving travellers digital multimodal one-stop shops and journey planning tools as an alternative to private car use. Planned delivery methods include subscription-based travel packages in Europe, and 'mobility aggregator' apps, including employee commute ben
    Read More

Highlighted Content