Google Street View Cars will Soon Measure Pollution

Recently a firm by the name of Aclima, building environmental sensors has teamed up with the web giants Google, and in turn has set out with a novelty…the street car of Google that is equipped with environmental sensors and a load of other new technologies that is capable of accumulating a vast and varied amounts of data directly from the street while this supposed techy piece of automobile shall cruise the asphalt. The greatest implication of this novelty is its radical technological outfit that makes this vastly suitable for some of the mundane street jobs which are yet of greatest value…namely monitoring pollution.

The hardware placed on these vehicles is equipped with sensors that are capable of measuring the components of air like nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) etc.

Though the whole idea is still in its early foetal stage, it can be expected that in near future there will be a time when the atmosphere information will be added even to the Google maps. The joint venture by both the companies has already had their set of trial runs and experiments on the streets of Denver.

Three of the Google vehicles fitted with their new outfit cruised the streets of the city for about a month and gathered information. A remarkable 150 data points was the net accumulation, a result of 750 hours of driving. The soon to be expected new development in this mass project is its shift to a new ground for experimentation and further modification.

San Francisco has been chosen as the new ground for operations, where local scientists are expected to take up quite an important role in developing the whole setup to a finer tuning, thereby making it conducive to this new locale and also increase it potential. A more viable method to utilize this gathered information is also on the agenda to make this even more conducive and productive.

What’s more? 

Usually stationary air pollution sensors are placed across the city that measure and give a feedback of the air pollution in a specific locale. This monitoring setup is a design dedicated at air quality regulation. However, this is barely capable of providing a detailed picture of a community or an urban area, and its exact pollution situation to the people.

The new cars fitted with the new technology are more conducive at mapping and setting up a friendly model of the environment, which is much more specific and easily understandable; thereby opening a new portal for the masses. A quite interesting happening is the already successful use of these street cars to measure gas leaks.

American Business Act on Climate Pledge

Google and twelve other American businesses have already signed the American Business Act on Climate Pledge and thereby committing to a 140 billion dollar in low carbon investments. Google themselves have also decided to power its operations with 100 percent renewable energy.

What is worth noting in all these new developments in the field of tracing the rising pollution levels across the globe is the simple hope for a better morrow where even if the world is not much greener, one will have the option to choose a greener pocket in his or her locality.