About the Zephyr® Air Quality Sensor
Air pollution is intricately linked to health problems amongst millions worldwide. Reducing harmful levels of air pollution can decrease the risk of stroke, lung disease, cancer and more, so measuring air quality is critical for people’s wellbeing. Our Zephyr® air quality sensors allow users to measure ambient air quality in real time, at any location. The sensors use active sampling to draw in pollutants from the air and surrounding environment to measure and deliver detailed insight into harmful gases and particulate concentrations.
Our small form sensors use a replacement cartridge system with options of a standard cartridge to measure; nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrous oxide (NO), ozone (O3) PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 or an enhanced cartridge which also measures hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfur dioxide (SO2) & carbon monoxide (CO). Both options offer ambient temperature, pressure, and relative humidity.
Zephyr® units can be used as static or mobile devices with the option to power via internal battery whilst on the go, hardwired or solar powered when mounted on a vertical post. Each unit is GPS enabled and transmits their location back to the newly launched MyAir® web app where detailed location traces and associated air pollution measures can be downloaded for viewing.
Our new web app MyAir® offers users intuitive and easy access to their air quality data. Users can choose to view and interrogate individual gases or particulates or use our Air Quality Index (AQI) overlaid on our background high resolution air quality model MappAir®, providing insight into air quality levels for any location.
Zephyr® air quality sensors are available to anyone interested in measuring air quality, including local and central governments, and systems integrators working on smart city and intelligent transport initiatives. The Zephyr® offers a comprehensive Application Programming Interface (API) that enables our users' to integrate directly with the Zephyr architecture and stream data in a variety of formats into alternate systems, such as those that programme traffic management, allowing decisions to be made in near-real time based on the prevailing air quality.
There is a variety of applications for the Zephyr® air quality sensor, and we collaborate with partners to deliver the smart solutions of the future, for example:
To identify pollution hotpots and trigger alerts to divert motorists to a cleaner, resulting in less congested routes improving traffic flows and reducing pollution in the known hotspots.
Sensors have been integrated into buses in India to measure air quality in Bengaluru in order to evidence the high levels of pollution and aid the transition to an electric bus fleet.
To confirm the effectiveness of interventions; such as aiding city planning in Potsdam, Germany to optimise cycle lanes in the city.
We are working with campaigners to drive behavioural change within communities around the country, measuring the effectiveness of various interventions, such as school walking buses.
We take pride in different ways our partners utilise the air quality data collected with our sensors, and you can view other news stories and case studies here.
Zephyr® Resiliency
With the current global lockdowns due to COVID-19, the importance of Zephyr resiliency has never been more significant as we need to ensure our users have continued access to critical air quality data with minimal physical interactions.
Fortunately, those measuring air quality with Zephyr® air quality sensors can continue to do so as normal. Our network of Zephyr® units are operating as normal and users still have access to their API or the MyAir® web app to view, interrogate and download their air quality measurements. This means our partners across the globe are able to plan and implement air pollution mitigations currently and for the future.
The Zephyr® architecture is entirely cloud-based and communication is made remotely using GSM giving us the ability to continually provide global air quality measurements. Key areas highlighting the resiliency of the Zephyr®:
Our sensors are robust, waterproof, and weather resistant to allow users to measure pollution levels in varying climates between -35°C and 45°C enabling deployments on a global scale.
85% of our support enquiries are resolved within 24 hours, ensuring that uptime is minimally affected.
90% of fixes are completed remotely, meaning disruption is minimal, without need to ship sensors back and forth.
Our sensors have 95% data coverage on average meaning we provide in-depth measurements to users even during unprecedented situations.
Zephyr® air quality data is thorough and dependable when compared to government standard reference sites, with each sensor tested against reference measurement technology prior to shipping – view our co-location examples here.
Why resilience is important to an industry like ours
Resiliency is something that is necessary in our industry due to the high demand and pressure to measure air pollution. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has linked 4.2 million yearly deaths with bad air quality and found that 91% of the world’s population lives in areas exceeding guidelines. This is highly dangerous as air pollution is an invisible killer that worsens the impact of health issues including COPD, asthma, heart & lung disease.
We continue to focus on resiliency as we supply businesses around the world with Zephyr® air quality sensors through a number of distributors as it is essential we provide units that can withstand the most extreme environments. Air quality data needs to be supplied on a consistently reliable basis in order to understand the environmental nuances, diurnal cycles, and trends. This means we must ensure provision of hardware that can be easily installed and forgotten about by users, ensure data dropouts are avoided as to not skew measured air quality statistics, and allow users to focus on the amassed data, plan reduction strategies, and monitor any interventions. Rest assured that our highly knowledgeable team of air quality experts and academics are available to provide support should it be necessary.
Interested in learning more about how a Zephyr® air quality sensor can help your business tackle air pollution?
Visit the Zephyr® sensor page at https://www.earthsense.co.uk/zephyr or get in contact with us at https://www.earthsense.co.uk/contact.