Google on Wednesday announced Air View+, an ecosystem-based solution to address the gap in air quality data across India. The system uses the Mountain View-based tech giant’s artificial intelligence (AI) models to process large amounts of air quality data at a hyperlocal level and provide actionable insights to Indian government agencies. To this end, the company has partnered with climate tech firms and researchers from various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to deploy specialized sensors to monitor air quality data across 150 Indian cities.
Google announces Air View+ to help source air quality data in India
The increase in particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 in the air of Delhi NCR region to dangerous levels has highlighted the lack of proactive measures in fixing India’s air quality issues. One reason for this is believed to be the lack of consistent air quality data and the lack of technology to convert such large amounts of data into actionable insights.
Google claims that its AI-powered Air View+ system can solve both of these hurdles to help government agencies proactively tackle air pollution. The tech giant says that it is an ecosystem-based solution that collects and processes air quality data from small localities and surroundings.
To collect the data, Google partnered with climate tech firms OraSure and Respire Living Sciences and created air quality sensors that measure various parameters including PM2.5, PM10, CO2, NO2, ozone and VOCs, as well as temperature and humidity. Can measure. These sensors take measurements every minute for stability.
A network of these sensors has been deployed in administrative establishments, commercial buildings, utility poles and highly populated areas in over 150 Indian cities. 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 continuously receive hyperlocal data across the city and then use AI to process this information in real time. The company says that its AI technology is used to power the Air View+ system.
Once processed, Google will send insights and key highlights from this huge data set to local municipal corporations and other government agencies. The company claims that this will help them prepare better action plans and proactive measures by looking at the patterns of deterioration in air quality. This will also help fill data gaps by obtaining air quality information from previously unmonitored areas.
This information will also be publicly available through Google Maps. Users of the platform can select any location and select the air quality layer from the Layer button on the home screen. The same information can also be checked on the weather widget on the Explore tab on the home screen.
