Monitoring air quality with lower-cost sensors: Insights on cloud-based calibration and leveraging the private sector by Robert Heinecke / Breeze Technologies, Germany Part of the "Ciudades con aire limpio" of the city of Lima / 02 December 2020

1. Monitoring air quality with lower-cost sensors
Insights on cloud-based calibration and
leveraging the private sector
Robert Heinecke, CEO, Breeze Technologies

3. Robert Heinecke
Co-Founder & CEO
Breeze Technologies
B.Sc. Computer Science
M.Sc. IT Management & Consulting
Experience in digitalisation & strategy
consulting
2018’ Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe
Member of the EC’s Young Leaders of
Industry Sustainability Board
Scientific advisor to the German
Federal Association for E-Mobility

5. Urban air quality - current and new monitoring approaches
Traditional monitoring equipment
Current standard approach. Very
limited amount of data gathered.
Limiting factors: costs, space, staff.
Challenge: Scalability
Crowd-based sensor networks
Citizen-driven. Sensors with little to no
quality assurance in manufacturing,
calibration and installation.
Challenge: Data quality
AI-enabled sensing
Data specially treated with AI to be
able to use it for decision-making.
Regulatory foundation in the works.
Opportunity: The best of both worlds

6. Air quality sensors of Breeze Technologies:
monitoring all important air quality parameters in real-time
* built to order
Accuracy studies:
http://bit.ly/2FAMZsE
Carbon monoxide
Nitric Oxide
Particulate Matter
(10µm + 2.5µm)
Ozone
Sulphur Dioxide*
Ammonia
Temperature
Humidity
Carbon dioxide
Nitrogen Dioxide
Volatile Organic
Compounds*
T
RH
CO
PMx
CO2
O3
NO
NO2
VOC
NH3
SO2
Available data transmission standards
Key benefits
- Real-time and hyperlocal air quality data (measurement
every 30 seconds)
- Hourly, daily and other aggregates available following
current air quality legislation
- Modular design to reduce electronic waste, small size
- CE- and EMC-tested
- 3-step calibration process to adjust to local
environmental parameters
- Data available as JSON, CSV and XLS(X)

7. The data quality and accuracy of our sensors has been proven in
reference studies.
Data quality has been proven in tests compared to existing municipal monitoring infrastructure & reference monitoring devices in in-field tests.
More information available at: https://www.breeze-technologies.de/blog/air-quality-sensors-by-breeze-technologies-accuracy-data-quality-and-reliability/

8. Cloud-based calibration supports data quality & accuracy
Needs to take a lot of factors into consideration: n-dimensional problem
„More-or-less linear“ influences
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Cross-sensitivities
„Chaotic“ influences
- Sensor aging
- Previous pollution exposure
- Characteristics of production batches
- Etc.
- They are difficult to assess => AI-based approach

9. Benefits of cloud-enabled air quality sensors
Enabling new use cases
Digital-/cloud-first air quality
monitoring system enables new use
cases for the data, e.g. integrating
in a smart city environment
Digital process automation
Automated plausibility checks and
data processing reduce time-to-
public for air quality data
Data can be used in real time (e.g.
in smart mobility applications)
Reduced maintenance overhead
Detection of faulty sensors and
implausible data flag datasets to be
further inspected by environmental
scientists
Little to no local maintenance, as
calibration happens remotely

10. Cloud and AI help to make lower-cost sensor data
usable for municipal administrators.

11. Accessibility of air quality data is an issue
Example case: http://kosovo-airquality.com

12. Accessibility of air quality data is an issue
Example case: https://map.breeze-technologies.de

13. Accessibility and citizen inclusion are key.

14. Air quality citizen platform:
the first point of contact for interested citizens
Demo: map.breeze-technologies.de
An optional citizen platform can be used to
make qualitative air quality data available to
interested citizens and offers engagement tools
like newsletters and a knowledge database.
More than 9.500 air quality data points are
already available on the portal.

15. Engaging citizens in
air quality monitoring campaigns and clean air action
Citizens as sensor hosts
To circumvent infrastructure limitations
and to include citizens
Air quality online communication
Participatory and open approach to
make air quality tangible
Citizen forums & workshops
Seek dialogue with all involved
stakeholders

17. Reference study: Microsoft
Densest air quality monitoring network in the world
In Hamburg-Altona, we have been analysing
the impact of traffic flow and traffic patterns
on a hyperlocal level.
We have created the densest air quality
monitoring network in the world, with 35
sensors deployed in an area of just 14 km2.

18. Customer case: NABU Hamburg e.V.
NABU Hamburg maintains an air quality
monitoring network along the river Elbe in the
port city of Hamburg.
More information at: https://hamburg.nabu.de/umwelt-und-ressourcen/hafen/luftmessnetz/index.html

19. Chances and limitations of private sector project
Private sector air quality projects can support public involvement, but cannot replace it.
Chances
- Faster time-to-market
- Can trial unproven / unpiloted technologies
- Less limited in project scoping
- Can start and / or support a movement
Limitations
- Measurement is easier than clean air action
- Limited access to urban data to correlate and analyse
- Little to no political capital
- Cannot replace the involvement and commitment from the city!

21. Bringing together public and private actors is key to
improve urban air quality and livability.

22. JOIN OUR CAUSE
Artificial intelligence and IoT against air pollution
Robert Heinecke | Co-Founder & CEO | robert@breeze-technologies.de
www.breeze-technologies.de