Air pollution is the single environmental issue Europeans worry about the most, and many do not feel sufficiently informed about air quality issues in their country. Despite our commitments to measure air quality, official data remains patchy and is not always easily accessible. The EU-funded project hackAIR joins the movement to improve air quality data in Europe through participatory sensing technology and citizen’s engagement. We build an open technology platform that you can use to access, collect and improve air quality information in Europe.

1. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
hackAIR
Open technology platform
Collect, access and improve air quality information in Europe
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2. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
European Environment Agency, Air Quality in Europe (2014)
Photo: Patrick Kovarik, AFP, Getty Images
In 2011, 458.000 premature deaths in Europe were
attributed to particulate matter in the air.
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3. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Air pollution: invisible but dangerous
Up to a third of Europeans living in cities are exposed to air pollutant
levels exceeding EU air quality standards.
Around 88% of the urban population is exposed to excessive
Particulate Matter (PM10) levels and other pollutants deemed
damaging to health by the World Health Organization (WHO)
guidelines.
EU reference value: PM10: 50 μg/m3 (daily average)
WHO air quality guidelines: 20 μg/m3 (annual average)
Source: European Environment Agency, Air Quality in Europe (2015)
EU limit values WHO guidelines
EU urban population exposed to harmful levels of air pollution, according to:
PM10
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4. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Photo:LundrimAliu/WorldBank
“Despite continuous improvements in recent decades, air
pollution is still affecting the general health of Europeans,
reducing their quality of life and life expectancy.”
Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director European Environment Agency, EEA
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5. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Increasing citizens’ engagement on
air quality
• Air pollution is the single
environmental issue Europeans
worry about the most (56%)1
• Nearly six out of ten Europeans do
not feel informed about air quality
issues in their country (59%)2
1 Eurobarometer, Attitudes of European citizens towards the environment, (2014)
2 Eurobarometer, Attitudes of Europeans towards air quality, (2013)
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6. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
We need better information
To provide useful estimates of air
quality, we need to:
Fill gaps in areas where distances
between sites may be large;
Improve access to data across many
sources;
Provide up to date air quality
information.
Selected PM10 values, 2004 (from EEA 2015)
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7. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Time to be proactive
Photo: Austin Ban, Unsplash
Individually: protecting our health & the environment
Collectively: triggering policy change &
encouraging behavioral change towards a cleaner air
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8. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
We are taking up the
challenge to launch
the hackAIR project!
hackAIR is all about
awareness and behavioral
change: taking care of our
health and of the earth.
6 partners, 5 European countries
Joining the movement to improve air quality data in Europe
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9. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
hackAIR partners
DRAXIS, Greece
Project management and
platform integration
NILU, Norway
Data fusion model and
pilot test in Norway
CERTH, Greece
Data discovery and
integration
BUND, Germany
Pilot test in Germany and
network of interest
VUB, Belgium
Co-creation and
engagement strategies
ON:SUBJECT, Netherlands
Dissemination and
exploitation
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10. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Making the problem visible
“The biggest strength of hackAIR is
making air quality visible. You can be
informed and contribute to this
yourself.” Arne Fellermann, BUND
Its uniqueness:
Openness (open source);
Pictures as measurement tool;
Easy to use hardware hack solutions
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11. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
What happens when you
combine open technology,
participatory sensing and
air quality in Europe?
Photo: Austin Ban, Unsplash
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12. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Meet Aylin! Should I ride the
bicycle or take the
tram today?
I’m helping to map the
neighbourhood’s air by
taking pictures.
It’s really interesting to see
how air quality changes
over time – and to compare
with other cities!
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13. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
End users & stakeholders
Organisations working on
public health and/or environmental issues
Institutions conducting research and
monitoring on air quality and pollution
Businesses and projects collecting,
managing, and displaying air quality data
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14. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
hackAIR in a
nutshell
Access to:
Open source code;
Real-time information on the current
status of air quality;
A community of like-minded users;
Personalised recommendations.
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15. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Data sources: Mobile images
• From Instagram or as a direct upload in the hackAIR
app
• Pictures need:
• Geolocation data
• Sufficient visibility of clear sky
• hackAIR’s algorithm then estimates particle matter
content based on the colour of the sky using aerosol
optical depth
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16. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Data sources: Open hardware
sensors
• Tutorials and manuals for a DIY-sensor kit from low-cost
hardware, including:
• Arduino libraries for quick and easy deployment
• Stand-alone hackAIR sensor system based on PSoC®
with Bluetooth Low Energy transceiver
• Optical air quality sensors to measure PM10
• Estimated system cost: ca. 40-90€
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17. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Data sources: Low-tech
measurements
• Simple setup: Aquarium pump + food
container + paper filter
• Upload smartphone photo of the
resulting colorized paper and a
reference filter
• hackAIR estimates air pollution based
on relative difference of filter colors
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18. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Data sources: Open air quality
datasets and data integration
hackAIR integrates publicly available
data sources from air quality monitoring
stations and participatory sensing
initiatives to provide an approximate
picture of the current air quality in a
given location.
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19. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Towards engagement & behaviour
change
hackAIR helps citizens to move from awareness to
behaviour change on air quality:
• Members of the hackAIR community collaborate to
gather and make sense of air quality data;
• The platform supports citizens with:
1. Steps to reduce individual air pollution, and
2. Steps to protect oneself against air pollution;
• The data can also be used to impact policy making
towards air quality improvements.
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20. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Co-creation of hackAIR
Hypothetical
scenarios
Current practice
scenario
Together with users, developers and stakeholders in Norway,
Germany, Greece
Possible future
scenario
Proof of
concept
User
wishes
Technical
possibilities
Evaluate
+ refine
The innovation binder approach
(Jacobs et al., 2014)
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21. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
hackAIR pilots
Starting in September 2016 in two countries:
• Germany: Focus on environmental activists
• Norway: Focus on health interest groups
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22. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
hackAIR timeline
2016 2017 2018
Content
exploration
Idea & concept
development
Pilot operation and engagement
Analysis, requirements, development and systems integration Iterative development of the hackAIR platform
Co-creation process
Evaluation and
sustainability
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23. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 688363
Join a growing movement to improve
air quality data
Sign up to the hackAIR
newsletter:
http://bit.ly/hackair-news
Visit our website:
www.hackair.eu
Follow us on
Twitter:
@hack_AIR
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24. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under grant agreement No 688363
Thank you!
Project coordinator: Dr. Machi Simeonidou, msimeonidou@draxis.gr
Media contact: Wiebke Herding, wiebke@onsubject.eu