EarthSense, the air quality specialist, today announced updates to its flagship product, the Zephyr® air quality sensor that include TVOC and CO2 measurement capabilities, additional RS232/RS485 third-party connections and 4G/5G technologies, LTE-Cat M1 and NB-IoT.
The new Zephyr® air quality sensor has the capability to take real-time measurements for carbon dioxide (CO2) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), connect with third party devices using RS232 and RS485 interfaces, and use additional cellular networks globally, including 4G and 5G technologies, NB-IoT and LTE Cat-M1.
The introduction of 4G and 5G technologies, LTE-Cat M1 and NB-IoT, puts the Zephyr® at the cutting edge of communications technologies for small form air quality sensors, enabling robust global deployment options for users as part of city-wide, low-power IoT initiatives.
The sensors also now offer increased flexibility with RS232 and RS485 ports so users can attach third party devices and collate data on further external factors such as meteorological conditions, wind speed and direction, rainfall, noise, or odour, creating a communications hub for wider environmental monitoring.
These developments allow Zephyr® users to identify how third-party factors may impact localised air pollution levels, allowing them to improve evidenced mitigation strategies. Measured third-party data can be viewed and analysed alongside air quality information via the EarthSense MyAir® web-app.
Due to increased market demand, EarthSense further developed the Zephyr® cartridge to measure CO2 and TVOC. This capability is available as part of a Zephyr® subscription, alongside the 12 existing measurements for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), temperature, pressure, and humidity, all in one small form, low cost sensor.
For those measuring indoor air quality, the update means the Zephyr® can now provide useful additional data for CO2 and for industrial users the Zephyr® can identify sources contributing to high TVOC concentrations, such as benzene.
Air quality data collected by the Zephyr® can be integrated with other systems using the comprehensive API, or viewed, analysed, and downloaded via the MyAir® web-app which also includes the MappAir® air quality model free-of-charge for all users, providing additional, wider spatial context to sensor measurements.
By providing the enhancements to the Zephyr®, EarthSense can provide users with even more flexibility at either static or mobile locations, allowing them to plan, implement and assess initiatives supported by additional measures.
EarthSense Technical Director, Dr. Roland Leigh said: “We are constantly striving to introduce valuable new capabilities to our products. The inclusion of 4G and 5G communications delivers the trusted Zephyr® performance to a new generation of IoT-enabled systems. We are also excited to dramatically expand the EarthSense measurement and data suite through the integration of third party sensors, allowing our customers the flexibility to combine a number of trusted hardware components, and generate a comprehensive dataset which can be accessed and managed through our API and web-portal.”
Roland continued: “As ever, our newest developments aim to deliver even more reliable measurements into a smart-cities’ ecosystems which will be able to improve decision-making. I strongly believe that outcomes for human health and climate sustainability can be dramatically improved through creative use of our monitoring technologies.”