Air quality specialist EarthSense has announced that its air quality services have been included as part of the Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Transport Technology and Associated Services (TTAS) framework.
The air quality monitoring services provider has been added to Lot 5: Sustainable Transport Technologies, enabling central government, UK wider public sector and UK public sector arm’s length bodies to apply for air quality monitoring services directly through the framework or with invitations to tender.
The agreement between EarthSense and CCS provides transport customers, such as those in rail, aviation, and marine markets with access to disruptive, innovative pollution monitoring technology, which can be used for working towards sustainability within the transport sector.
Authorities and transport companies can explore the intrinsic links between transport and air pollution using EarthSense services, which have received an Innovation Award from the Queens Award for Enterprise 2021. Customers can identify hotspot areas, sources, and peak times, and can trial mitigations, such as timed road closures or Clean Air Zones, prior to implementing effective strategies in real-life scenarios to help work towards cleaner and safer air quality.
The EarthSense service comprises hardware and software-as-a-service (SaaS) components. Starting with the deployment of a standalone or network of EarthSense Zephyr monitors, customers can measure various gases and particulate matter in ambient air in real time as part of static or mobile applications, together with temperature, pressure, and humidity.
Measurements and pollution models can be integrated with existing systems via an API or can be sent back to EarthSense’s MyAir web application. MyAir is where customers can view, analyse, and download in bulk pollution data to understand air pollution from its source to dispersion in detail. Also available through the web application is MappAir® pollution modelling, which adds context to measurements by plugging the gaps where Zephyr monitors have not been installed.
EarthSense also offers its MappAir air quality model with the option to integrate modelling data into existing systems alongside Zephyr measurements via API or through MyAir®. The model provides visualizations of how pollutants disperse and flow around buildings and urban canyons, enabling transport companies and governments to understand how congestion and vehicle emissions are contributing to unsafe pollution exposure. Data is available in near real time, historically and as a forecast on a global (40km resolution), national (100m resolution) and city scale (up to 2m resolution).
“We deliver our services directly and also provide an option for transport companies and local authorities to integrate pollution data with their transport systems via API,” says Tom Hall, managing director at EarthSense. “We currently work with around 80 central and local governments across the UK who use these services for informed decision-making processes to better manage traffic and reduce emissions. Adding our pollution monitoring services to the CCS TTAS framework allows us to become more accessible to other governing bodies and public transport companies to help work towards sustainability and our goal of net zero by 2050. Further expanding our services across the country will not only benefit companies working towards air quality targets but will also mean that members of the public can breathe easier and live healthier lives as a result of pollution monitoring and mitigation.”
