Air Quality Monitoring in Coastal India: An Airveda Collaborative CSR Initiative
October 21, 2024
Team Airveda
2 min readIIT Kanpur & Ericsson
CSR
Chennai, Kanyakumari
45 Monitors
IIT Kanpur and Ericsson sought to implement a public awareness campaign focused on air pollution in Chennai and Kanyakumari. This involved deploying and maintaining air quality monitoring systems to collect real-time data and inform policy decisions.
Introduction
In an effort to address the rising concerns over air quality and environmental health in South India, IIT Kanpur, in collaboration with Ericsson, launched a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative aimed at raising public awareness around air pollution. The project focused on the deployment of air quality monitoring systems in Chennai and Kanyakumari. Airveda was chosen as a partner to install and maintain 45 air quality sensors, including 40 in Chennai and 5 in Kanyakumari. This initiative was aimed at making real-time pollution data publicly accessible, while also contributing to research and policy development. The project began in May/June 2021, and it is continued through June 2023. Some of the sensors continue to be deployed and maintained till today. The data collected from these sensors is invaluable for both understanding pollution patterns in coastal regions like Chennai and Kanyakumari and informing future urban planning decisions.
Testimonial
Problem Statement
Chennai’s coastal geography and its location on the thermal equator present unique environmental challenges. The city experiences high temperatures and humidity levels throughout the year, which can potentially impact the accuracy of air quality sensors. One of the primary concerns was ensuring that the sensors functioned optimally and delivered accurate data even during humid seasons. Moreover, the absence of direct government support posed logistical and operational challenges.
The team had to rely on local contacts for identifying suitable sensor locations, managing installations, and handling ongoing maintenance without significant external assistance. An additional challenge was ensuring that the deployed sensors covered the entire city, accounting for diverse urban zones such as residential, commercial, and industrial areas.
Solution
To address these challenges, IIT Kanpur partnered with Airveda to provide 45 air quality sensors. Of these, 40 sensors were deployed across Chennai and 5 in Kanyakumari. The strategic deployment of sensors aimed to cover a broad range of locations, ensuring accurate representation of air quality in different parts of the cities. Key aspects of the solution included:
- Plug-and-play sensors with GSM capability: All Airveda sensors were equipped with GSM and SIM cards, eliminating the need for on-site Wi-Fi connectivity. This reduced the dependency on local infrastructure and ensured that the devices could operate with minimal maintenance.
- Colocation with IIT Kanpur BAM sensors: To ensure the highest accuracy, the Airveda sensors were colocated with IIT Kanpur’s BAM (Beta Attenuation Monitors), a regulatory-grade air quality monitoring system. The deployment of sensors was only finalized once the data met stringent US EPA criteria, ensuring precision.
- Strategic citywide deployment: The city of Chennai was divided into a grid to guide sensor placement. Locations were chosen based on both the availability of local contacts and the need to cover various population densities and land uses (e.g., residential, commercial, and industrial areas).
- Calibration and tracking for continuous accuracy: Four Airveda sensors were colocated with government regulatory monitors. This allowed continuous calibration of the Airveda network, ensuring high accuracy by comparing its data against government standards.
Key Features
Throughout the course of the project, several important observations emerged:
- Seasonal pollution trends: PM 2.5 pollution increased by 10 µg/m3 (78.78%) in summer compared to last year, but winter air quality improved, especially in the Perungudi region.
- Humidity and sensor performance: Seasonal calibration (every three to six months) suffices in Chennai’s hot and humid conditions, unlike other regions that require more frequent calibration for accuracy.
- Sensor reliability: The PM sensors performed well for over a year with quarterly maintenance, showing strong correlation with regulatory-grade monitors, especially during winter.
- Public awareness impacts: Effective awareness campaigns have reduced pollution levels during Diwali in 2022 compared to previous years, highlighting the success of public engagement.
Results
The deployment of 45 sensors across Chennai and Kanyakumari successfully provided real-time data on air pollution levels in both urban and coastal settings. Some of the key results include:
- Improved data collection and air quality monitoring across diverse areas, including residential, industrial, and coastal zones.
- High sensor accuracy, with minimal maintenance, sustained over the two-year period.
- A more comprehensive understanding of seasonal pollution trends in Chennai, particularly the effects of humidity on sensor performance.
- Successful calibration of the sensor network using government regulatory monitors, ensuring reliable data across the region.
- Tangible reductions in air pollution during Diwali, attributed to public awareness efforts initiated as part of this project.
Conclusion
The collaboration between IIT Kanpur, Ericsson, and Airveda demonstrates how technological innovation and strategic planning can address air quality challenges in India’s unique environments. By deploying a network of 45 air quality sensors across Chennai and Kanyakumari, the project not only enhanced public awareness but also contributed valuable data for research and policy-making. Despite the challenges of deploying and maintaining sensors without government support, the project’s outcomes have been overwhelmingly positive.
Sensor accuracy has been maintained, and public awareness efforts have already led to noticeable improvements in air quality during key periods, such as Diwali. Going forward, this data can help policymakers and researchers devise better strategies to mitigate pollution and improve the overall health and well-being of communities in these regions.
Airveda team is a group of individuals working tirelessly with a mission to help people breathe well and live well.