Google's new AI ecosystem to help monitor air quality in India

Rising air pollution levels are choking the breath of cities in North India

Google has announced a new AI ecosystem called AirView+ to help monitor air quality in Indian cities. According to Google, Air View+ is “an ecosystem based solution to empower government authorities and people with useful hyperlocal air quality information, in collaboration with local climate tech firms”.

Using Google AI, the Air View+ ecosystem will measure air quality in cities across India and provide the insights to government agencies responsible for environmental monitoring and urban planning.

Air View+ provides local municipal corporations with hyperlocal air quality data of their cities, which they are using to develop their in-house AQ dashboards via the researchers and Google’s sustainability partners (Aurassure and Respirer Living Sciences). These dashboards provide air quality data for unmonitored areas and help urban planners identify hotspots and make necessary interventions, says Google.

According to Google, climate tech firms, Aurassure and Respirer Living Sciences were instrumental in setting up an air quality sensor network in cities that previously lacked the requisite infrastructure to monitor air quality. These sensors measure various air quality parameters, PM2.5, PM10, CO2, NO2, Ozone, and VOCs, along with temperature and humidity, taking measurements every minute.

Strategically deployed in static locations across more than 150 Indian cities, such as administrative establishments, commercial buildings, utility poles, etc. to maximise population coverage, these sensors continuously monitor air quality. With the support of local researchers from IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, state pollution boards and climate action groups like CSTEP, these sensors are rigorously validated and calibrated, claims the California-headquartered tech giant.

Google says that the Air View+ ecosystem will bring together local organisations working to enable real-time hyperlocal air quality information, including local sustainability startups, researchers/climate action groups, corporations, city administrators and citizens. It’s been a year since Google partnered with municipal corporations including Navi Mumbai, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Greater Chennai for Air View+.