IIT Kanpur researchers develop low-cost air quality monitoring sensors to provide pollution data to local residents

IIT Kanpur develops low-cost air quality monitoring sensors in collaboration with Mumbai based startup to provide local data on the sources of pollution.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur along with a Mumbai-based start-up has developed and installed first-of-its-kind, low-cost air quality monitoring sensors at 30 locations across Delhi and the neighboring satellite towns to provide local data on the sources of pollution. The data from the sensors, which have been designed to measure a particulate matter of size 10 microns (PM10) and 2.5 microns (PM2.5), will not only be available to anti-pollution agencies but local residents as well, the developers said.

IIT-Kanpur scientists explained that the sensors gather and transmit data more effectively than air quality monitoring stations in Delhi-NCR. Delhi has 36 monitoring stations run by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

Scientists said it is a collaboration between IIT-Kanpur, Mumbai-based Respirer Living Sciences and Ericsson (India), which for the first time has used Narrow Bandwidth-Internet of Things technology in India.

The project is led by Sachchida Nand Tripathi, head of department (civil engineering) who is also a member of the National Clean Air Programme and professor Abhay Karandika, director, IIT-Kanpur. Data generated from these sensors will be shared on a common platform to help community groups understanding the air quality situation in their areas. The first batch of these sensors has been installed at 30 locations, including Dhaula Kuan, RK Puram, Mundka, Rohini, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Noida.

“This is a patent-pending technology that IIT-Kanpur has developed. These sensors are low-cost but they are very well-calibrated. This will not only provide a clear picture of which local sources are acting up, but also provide information of how much contribution is coming from outside,” said Tripathi.

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