4 Air Monitoring Global action


The importance of short-lived pollutants was recognised by the eight richest industrialised nations which agreed to take emissions reduction measures for short-lived climate pollutants, including Black Carbon, methane, ground-level ozone and hydro fluorocarbons at the recent G8 meeting in Maryland USA.


The Camp David Declaration of May 2012 included the following:


‘Recognizing the impact of short-lived climate pollutants on near- term climate change, agricultural productivity, and human health, we support, as a means of promoting increased ambition and


complementary to other CO2 and GHG emission reduction efforts, comprehensive actions to reduce these pollutants, which, according to UNEP and others, account for over thirty percent of near-term global warming as well as 2 million premature deaths a year. Therefore, we agree to join the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-lived Climate Pollutants.’


UK air quality


In common with most of Europe, the air quality improvements of recent decades have stalled and the UK is failing to meet many domestic and European air quality targets. The main parameters of concern are Nitrogen Oxides (from vehicles and electricity generation), Ozone (formed by a reaction between nitrogen oxides and organic gases) and Particulates (from combustion sources).


In 1952 over 4,000 Londoners (above the ‘normal’ mortality rate) are believed to have died as a result of the Great Smog and this led to the introduction of the Clean Air Act of 1956. However, in 1992, the Department of Health set up a Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) which concluded that up to 24,000 deaths were still being ‘brought forward’ in the UK in 1995/1996 due to the effects of air pollution.


The new ‘AQMesh’, allows air quality to be monitored in almost any location


More recently, the UK Parliament’s Environment Audit Committee published a report which highlights the UK’s poor performance on air quality, but Defra disagreed with many of the report’s recommendations. In February the Committee’s Chair, Joan Walley MP wrote to Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, the then


Secretary of State, at Defra saying “It is particularly disappointing to note that Defra will not be undertaking any significant work to engage with the public about the risks to health from air pollution and action that people can take to reduce these.” In Mrs Spelman’s reply she said: “The Public Health Outcomes Framework announced in January provides an important opportunity for this and we are working with the Department of Health colleagues to embed air quality as a priority for Directors of Public Health and to promote awareness and engagement on air quality locally. Moreover as was stated in the response, the Government already provides significant funding to local authorities to engage with business and the public to promote air quality in innovative ways. This approach presents a sustainable route to better understanding of air quality and of the action needed to reduce exposure.”


Public awareness


Local Authorities monitor ambient air quality and publish data for the benefit of the public. However, as a result of public sector cutbacks environmental health professionals are focused on maintaining performance whilst implementing cost savings. Nevertheless, there are a number of opportunities for improvement; air quality needs to be higher on the political agenda and this can only be achieved if more people are aware of the problems, so we have to find ways to make it simpler for people to access easy to understand data. Happily, technology has advanced considerably and it will soon be possible to install ambient monitoring stations that are much smaller, several times lower in cost and yet still able to provide accurate parts per billion ambient air quality data.


Because it is so small, and can be bolted to a lamp post, this new technology, known as ‘AQMesh’, allows air quality to be monitored in the locations that need to be monitored rather than where equipment can be conveniently positioned. The AQMesh 'pods' are completely wireless, using battery power and GPRS communications to transmit data for the main air polluting gases to 'the cloud' where sophisticated data management will generate highly accurate readings as well as monitor hardware performance.


Traditional ambient monitoring stations have often been criticised because their physical location may limit their ability to provide representative data, so the ability to site low cost AQMesh pods in multiple locations, close to vehicles, passengers and pedestrians, will be a tremendous advantage.


‘What gets monitored, gets managed’


Marcus Pattison, one of the organisers of AQE 2013 (the air quality and emissions monitoring event) is a firm believer in the critical importance of monitoring for driving improvements. He says “The


Traditional ambient monitoring station


air quality progress that we have seen in recent decades has largely resulted from our ability to set targets and monitor our performance against them and this is why the Environment Agency, local authorities and the Source Testing Association are the driving forces behind events such as AQE 2013.”


AQE 2013 ( www.AQEshow.com ) will be the world’s largest event to focus specifically on air quality monitoring and 2013 will be the seventh in this series of specialist air monitoring events. Taking place at the International Centre in Telford, UK, on 13th and 14th March, the event will be comprised of: a Conference providing updates on legislation, monitoring standards and technologies; Workshops providing practical advice and case studies, and an Exhibition featuring almost all of the world’s leading providers of monitoring equipment and services.


AQE 2013 will focus on industrial emissions and stack monitoring of regulated processes including the emissions to air of smaller processes which are controlled by local authorities, in addition to several new aspects of air quality protection.


Marcus Pattison is obviously delighted that Janez Potočnik has designated 2013 as the ‘Year of Air’ because “It creates a ‘perfect


storm’ of activity in air quality; the new Industrial Emissions Directive is now in place, public awareness of air quality issues is growing and the Commissioner’s work will help to ensure progress, so I believe that AQE 2013 will be a timely event, making a powerful contribution to 2013 becoming the Year of Air.”


The Air Quality and Emissions Show


AQE


As NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is examining the soil in the Gale Crater to see if it ever offered conditions favourable for supporting life, Vaisala's (Finland) pressure and humidity sensors onboard the rover are also hard at work. The sensors are on Mars as a part of instrumentation designed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), and they are used to gather pressure and humidity readings in the extreme environmental conditions of the Martian atmosphere.


Vaisala has provided the project with standard Vaisala HUMICAP humidity sensors and specially customised Vaisala BAROCAP pressure sensors. First introduced in 1973, Vaisala HUMICAP was the world's first thin-film capacitive humidity sensor and a radical innovation that changed humidity measurements for good. Similarly, Vaisala BAROCAP was developed in early 1980s as a new pressure-sensing technology based on silicon processing.


Both sensor technologies are used widely in Vaisala's own humidity and pressure sensing products and systems. Thanks to their superior long-term stability and accuracy as well as their ability to tolerate dust, chemicals and otherwise harsh environmental conditions, the technologies are especially suitable for demanding industrial applications used by a wide range of industries from power and steel to life science and building automation.


Reader Reply Card No. 12 IET November / December 2012 www.envirotech-online.com Reader Reply Card No. 13


AQE 2013 ( www.AQEshow.com ) will be the world’s largest event to focus specifically on air quality monitoring


2013


Mars Rover Curiosity Equipped with Pressure and Humidity Sensors


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