SmogOff

SmogOff is our system for air pollution sensing on the street, with real-time data visualisation so passers by can see the pollution levels where they are. You can see a talk about the project here:

In 2021 we were awarded funding from Smartline (European Regional Development Funding) to develop and test the air pollution sensors (particulate matter and NOx). We were looking at ways to visualise air pollution in situ and in real time, so people can see the pollution levels on their streets. For this project we were joined by Antony Brown who had 6 months funding to further develop the system, thanks to the UKRI Doctoral Career Development Fund.

We worked with Cornwall Council to understand what air pollution monitoring they were already doing and what's missing, and to calibrate our low-cost sensors against the Council's professional-grade monitoring equipment. In 2023 we were joined by George Brock on a MSc placement, and George did the first user testing of the system, which resulted in data that our local community took to the town council to lobby for change.

You can read about the development so far under the Notes links to the right. The sensor and visualisation software are open source, and the data presentation happens on the streets, so everyone has access to what we're doing.

The project builds on the technology we've been developing for the Sonic Kayaks.

We're open to anyone who's interested in using these locally (Cornwall, UK) for policy making, community use or environmental activism - if that's you, get in touch over email or Twitter.