Project description
Local monitoring system for healthier air
Ambient air pollution accounts for 4.2 million premature deaths per year due to stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. Around 91 % of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed limits set by the World Health Organization. The EU-funded TRIAGE project will develop a cloud-connected, smart, photonic sensing system using the latest mid-infrared technology to monitor air pollution. The project’s new approach enables pervasive community-based sensing from a linked network of static and mobile detection units. The data will be automatically processed in real-time using machine learning algorithms to provide long-term concentration maps for many pollutant gases, as well as emergency warnings in the case of local hot spots.
Objective
Air pollution is one of the largest risk factors for premature death, yet current portable monitoring technology cannot provide adequate protection at a local community level.
• TRIAGE will develop a smart, compact and cost-effective air quality sensor network for the
hyperspectral detection of all relevant atmospheric pollution gases
• Resolution and selectivity are two orders of magnitude better than current solutions for lower cost
• Cloud-based, deep-learning algorithms enable automated short-term alerts and long-term trend analysis
• Community-based testing is agreed with Swedish and Swiss environmental agencies and transport companies
The sensor is based on an innovative, mid-IR supercontinuum laser providing ultra-bright emission from 2-10 µm in the infrared “fingerprint region.” The latest spectroscopic technology, including novel multi-pass cell and detectors, enables real-time detection of all major harmful gaseous components of air pollution with high sensitivity and selectivity, at levels far below the Immediate Danger to Life and Health (IDLH) concentrations. Precision multi-gas detection allows studies of synergistic effects from combinations of gases for the first time. In-built chemometric analysis and cloud connection will feed deep-learning algorithms and data storage to enable analysis ranging from long-term trends in air pollution to urgent local alerts.
This smart photonic approach enables pervasive community-based sensing, allowing inventories of emitted pollutants and identification of pollution hotspots. Agreements with local authorities in Stockholm and Neuchâtel for distributed pollution monitoring from municipal buildings and with local bus companies in Sweden and Switzerland for mobile validation are in place.
A comprehensive advisory board, TRIAGE-NET, ensures participation from end-users, large industrial players, environment agencies and local public communities. Outline business cases for commercialization are provided.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorssmart sensors
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringair pollution engineering
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learningdeep learning
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physics
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark