With a new sensor that measures particulate matter, citizens in Europe, the US and other countries can form a worldwide network to monitor air quality themselves. This SODAQ AIR is a new version of the Snuffelfiets, a sensor box on the handlebars with which 500 cyclists in the province of Utrecht have been cycling since 2019 to measure the amount of particulate matter in the air.

Seven million people die every year from the effects of air pollution. World Health Organization WHO calls it one of the most serious threats to human health from the environment and wants to tighten standards. In 2015, SODAQ decided, with the first version of the AIR, to provide citizens with the tools to measure air quality themselves.

Since 2017, SODAQ, as a producer and IoT specialist, has been working together with the province of Utrecht and data specialist Civity in the Snuffelfiets project. At the end of 2018, ten cyclists took to the road with a Snuffelfiets, a sensor box on their handlebars with which they map the air quality along cycling routes. In June 2019, the number of cyclists was expanded to 500. In a year and a half, the participants cycled approximately 750.000 kilometers and collected 20 gigabytes of data. RIVM has established that the mobile sensors on the bicycle meet its requirements and are a good addition to the existing network of fixed air measurement points.

The mobile air measurement units are now also used in Norway, Sweden, parts of Italy and France. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced Dutch innovation in various countries that like to monitor their air quality. That was reason for SODAQ to further develop the prototype together with TU Delft and the province of Utrecht.

“The more measurements are taken, the better. All users together form a community of clean air advocates. Our ambition is to expand that community into a worldwide network of cyclists who monitor air quality. Even in places where measurements are not currently being taken."

The new AIR

There was a smaller, smarter version of the sensor with a new mounting system, making this SODAQ AIR even easier to put on or take off the handlebars than the Snuffelfiets. The device looks like a large bicycle bell. It measures the concentration of particulate matter (PM2.5), the temperature and the humidity every ten seconds, approximately every fifty metres. The sensor transmits that data via the Internet of Things (IoT) to an online platform. Both the results are shown there and it is possible to see per hour whether the air quality is good or bad for each area where you cycle.

At the request of the users, this SODAQ AIR can also measure air pollution when it is stationary, so it can also be used in the house or in the garden. The device does not have a battery, but a rechargeable super capacitor, which can be charged. This increases the service life and durability. Lights on the sensor also immediately indicate the situation on site. Using the platform, users anywhere in the world can see air quality and by entering a unique identifier the air quality of their own routes, while maintaining complete anonymity. Because the sensor also measures temperature, it can be used in the discovery of so-called heat islands; urban areas where it is warmer than elsewhere, which can lead to heat stress.

Since the first prototypes, the price of the sensor has more than halved. SODAQ shares the technology behind it via open source on the internet, so that other parties can produce or adapt the sensor themselves. To bring the AIR to a worldwide audience, the company will start a crowdfunding campaign on the platform Kickstarter on November 16.

Also read: Many complete the Bicycle City 2022 survey

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