미국 샌프란시스코에 위치한 환경 센서 네트워크 기업 ‘에클리마(Aclima)’가 모바일 대기 오염 감지 센서를 구글(Google)의 스트리트 뷰 차량에 탑재했다.
구글 지도(Google Map) 생성을 위하여 온종일 운행되는 스트리트 뷰(Street View) 차량의 특성을 이용하여, 미국 휴스턴, 멕시코시티, 시드니를 시작으로 50대의 스트리트 뷰 차량이 공기 오염도 측정을 시작했다.
이때 수집되는 데이터는 이산화탄소, 일산화탄소, 산화질소, 이산화질소, 오존, 입자상 물질 등을 포함하며, 정확한 수치는 구글 빅쿼리(Google BigQuery)를 통해 공개되고 있다.
에클리마가 수집한 데이터를 기반으로 환경과학과 기술(Environmental Science and Technology)에 발표된 연구에 따르면, 도시의 도로는 작은 거리에서도 공기 오염도가 5배에서 8배로 차이나는 것으로 알려졌다.
에클리마의 설립자 다비다 허즐(Davida Herzl)은 “같은 도로에서 최저와 최악의 공기 오염도가 모두 측정되고 있다”라고 전하며, 부실한 도시 설계의 심각성을 토로했다.
에클리마는 올 하반기 미국 서부와 유럽에 업데이트된 모바일 대기 오염 감지 센서를 탑재한 구글 스트리트 뷰 차량이 주행할 것이라고 전했다.
구글 어스(Google Earth) 캐린 턱슨-뱃맨(Karin Tuxen-Bettman) 프로그램 매니저는 “에클리마와 꾸준한 공기 오염도 측정을 통해 건강한 도시로 탈바꿈할 수 있게 노력할 것”이라고 전했다.
Aclima, a San Francisco-based startup building Internet-connected air quality sensors has announced plans to integrate its mobile sensing platform into Google’s global fleet of Street View vehicles.
Google uses the Street View cars to map the land for Google Maps. Starting with 50 cars in Houston, Mexico City and Sydney, Aclima will capture air quality data by generating snapshots of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and particulate matter (PM2.5)while the Google cars roam the streets. The idea is to ascertain where there may be too much pollution and other breathing issues on a hyper local level in each metropolitan area. The data will then be made available as a public dataset on Google BigQuery.
Aclima has had a close relationship with Google for the past few years and this is not its first ride in Street View cars. The startup deployed its sensors in London earlier this year using Google’s vehicles and three years ago started working with the tech giant to ascertain air health within Google’s own campus as well as around the Bay Area.
“All that work culminated in a major scientific study,”Aclima founder Davida Herzl told TechCrunch, referring to a study published in Environmental Science and Technology revealing air pollution levels varied in difference five to eight times along a city street. “We found you can have the best air quality and the worst air quality all on the same street…Understanding that can help with everything from urban planning to understanding your personal exposure.
That initial research now enables Aclima to scale up with Google’s Street View cars in the hopes of gathering even more data on a global basis. Google Street View cars cover the roads on all seven continents and have driven over 100,000 miles in just the state of California collecting over one billion data points since the initial project began with Aclima in 2015.
The first Street View cars with the updated Aclima sensors will hit the road this fall in the western United States, as well as in Europe, according to the company.
“These measurements can provide cities with new neighborhood-level insights to help cities accelerate efforts in their transition to smarter, healthier cities,” Karin Tuxen-Bettman, Program Manager for Google Earth Outreach said in a statement.
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