French smart city technologies startup eLichens is providing open data access to its hyper local real-time and air quality forecast data for its home city of Grenoble to help facilitate the emergence of new environmental services for its government and citizens.
A designer of patented gas sensors and the first comprehensive air quality analysis and prediction platform, eLichens hopes that the release of its new data will facilitate the development of services to communities, service industries and citizens concerned about the quality of the air they breathe. The company has developed a complete platform for smart city applications, based on its dense network of air quality stations and cloud models to measure and predict air quality at a very high precision.
The high-resolution mapping of Grenoble’s air pollution published by eLichens is produced from the integration of various parameters: topographic data, real-time road traffic information, meteorology of the city, and advanced gas dispersion models.
These parameters are supported by real-time and continuous air pollution measurements from the eLichens stations deployed in Grenoble and from the Atmo Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes reference stations.
Using its own high-resolution mathematical models and air quality measurement stations, eLichens generates maps with 33ft (10m) resolution and provides real-time air quality information and 24-hour forecasts for key pollutants such as particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO).
eLichens hopes that access to this precise information, which is also available on smartphone, will heighten citizens’ awareness of the air pollution that surrounds them, and to encourage those concerned about air quality to adopt beneficial individual behaviors.
Governmental agencies and city authorities are also encouraged to make use of the data for future transportation and mobility initiatives. Air quality monitoring is a very important issue in all regions of the world, and from its headquarters in Grenoble and offices in California, eLichens is working with partners on implementing a much larger scale deployment strategy.
“Our goal is to provide the public with valuable air quality information to enable informed decision making that can impact various aspects of our daily lives,” explained Marc Attia, CMO of eLichens.
“For example, air quality can change suddenly and vary from place to place. By knowing exactly how good the city’s air is, Grenoble residents can quickly and simply identify the best route to work in the morning on foot or by bike, the best time to go running, and avoid the streets that can affect people with respiratory diseases, children and the elderly.”
