Google announced Air View+, an ecosystem-based solution to address the gaps in air quality data across India, on Wednesday. The system uses the Mountain View-based tech giant’s artificial intelligence (AI) models to process a large volume of air quality data at the hyperlocal level and provide actionable insights to Indian government agencies. For this, the company has partnered with climate tech firms and researchers from various Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) to deploy specialised sensors to monitor air quality data across 150 Indian cities.
The rise of particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 in the air of Delhi NCR region to dangerous levels has highlighted the problem of lack of proactive measures in fixing India’s air quality issues. One of the reasons for this is believed to be the lack of consistent air quality data and the technology to convert such large volume of data into actionable insights.
Google claims that its AI-powered Air View+ system can solve both of these bottlenecks to help government agencies combat air pollution proactively. The tech giant states that it is an ecosystem-based solution that both collects and processes air quality data from small localities and surroundings.
To collect the data, Google partnered with climate tech firms Aurassure and Respirer Living Sciences and built air quality sensors that can measure various parameters including PM2.5, PM10, CO2, NO2, Ozone, and VOCs, as well as temperature and humidity. These sensors take measurements every minute for consistency.
A network of these sensors have been deployed in more than 150 Indian cities in locations with high population footfall such as administrative establishments, commercial buildings, utility poles, and more. Google claimed that researchers from IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, state pollution boards and climate action groups have rigorously validated and calibrated these sensors.
The idea behind setting up this sensor network is to get consistent hyperlocal data across the city and then using AI to process this information in real time. The company says its AI technology is used to power the Air View+ system.
Once processed, Google will send the insights and key highlights from this massive data set to local municipal corporations and other government agencies. The company claims that this will enable them to better prepare action plans and proactive measures by observing patterns in air quality dips. This will also help fill in the data gaps by sourcing air quality information from previously unmonitored areas.
This information will also be available publicly via Google Maps. Users of the platform can select the Air Quality layer from the Layer button on the home screen by picking any location. The same information can also be checked on the weather widget on the Explore tab on the home screen.
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