Hundreds of Canadians to Test Smart Air Quality Monitoring in Ten Cities Across Canada
By Coral Bliss Taylor
April 18, 2017
Calgary, A.B. – Approximately 3 million deaths a year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This makes improving air quality data essential to building healthier cities. As part of Canada’s move towards creating healthier cities, SensorUp, a Calgary-based startup, is launching the Smart Citizens for Smart Cities Canadian Tour. Backed by Natural Resources Canada’s GeoConnections, SensorUp will hold workshops in ten cities across Canada to teach over 500 volunteers to deploy more than 500 smart air quality monitoring devices. These ten cities will get to test out state-of-the-art, smart air quality monitoring, as a citizen-based smart cities program.
By putting in place a crowd-sourced network of 500 modern air quality sensors (and 1000 additional related sensors), the Smart Citizens for Smart Cities Canadian Tour will result in air quality data with unprecedented geographic and temporal coverage. The air quality sensors will measure particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) every 5 minutes. Why PM 2.5? University of Calgary Professor Ke Du explains that PM 2.5 is an “important air quality indicator because its small size allows it to travel farther and longer, and get deeper into our lungs.”
The sensors are small and lightweight, and connect to regular Wi-Fi, making them easy to deploy. They are also low cost and versatile, allowing for mass, non-expert deployment. The network will have more sensors, resulting in increased geographic coverage.
This Canada-wide network of devices uses an Internet of Things (IoT) based approach to Smart Cities. The program tests new technology that may completely change the way we measure air quality, connect people, and monitor the environment in our communities. Dr. Steve Liang, CEO and founder of SensorUp, and Associate Professor at the University of Calgary, explains:
“Sensor technology provides new, infinitely cheaper, user friendly, ways of measuring, that are completely changing the way we interact with the physical world. We are now able to monitor and connect physical objects like never before. Getting citizens involved in this empowers them to take control of the technology, and by doing so, their (inevitably) connected future. The Smart Citizens for Smart Cities Canadian Tour will rapidly deploy a state-of-the-art smart cities program.”
SensorUp is calling for partners in municipalities across Canada who want to be involved in the program. For partnership inquiries, and for more information on the Smart Citizens for Smart Cities Canadian Tour, go to smartcities.sensorup.com.
About SensorUp
SensorUp provides a cross-domain data exchange platform for the Internet of Things (IoT), based on international, open, geospatial standards. SensorUp’s platform is the world’s first and most complete, ready-to-use, compliant implementation of the OGC SensorThings API standard. SensorUp’s staff are experts in geospatial IoT data management. Dr. Steve Liang, founder and CEO of SensorUp, is the editor of the OGC SensorThings API standard specification and a globally recognized IoT expert. Learn more at www.SensorUp.com and from @SensorUp on Twitter.
Contact
To learn more, please contact
Coral Bliss Taylor
SensorUp Inc.
122 3553 - 31 Street NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2L 2K7
403-880-1617
coral.blisstaylor@sensorup.com
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Release link: http://www.sensorup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Canadians-to-Test-Smart-Air-Monitoring.pdf