New and improved Sniffer Bike leads to worldwide air quality monitoring network

SODAQ develops smaller and smarter version of particulate sensor

HILVERSUM, Netherlands, Nov. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to a new air quality monitor (AQM) that measures fine particulate matter, citizens in Europe, the US and other countries can now monitor air quality themselves, whilst creating a global air quality network. The SODAQ AIR is the new and improved version of the Snuffelfiets (Sniffer Bike) device, a handlebar-mounted air quality monitor that 500 cyclists in the Dutch Province of Utrecht have been using to measure the level of particulates in the air since 2019.

The participants of the Snuffelfiets project, a collaboration with the Province of Utrecht, data specialist Civity, and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM), covered approximately 750,000 kilometres and collected 20 gigabytes of air quality data in approximately 18 months. Through thorough examination of the collected data, the RIVM determined that the mobile sensors met its requirements and are considered to be a valuable addition to the existing network of fixed air monitoring stations.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced the innovation in various countries. This prompted SODAQ to develop the prototype further together with Delft University of Technology and the Province of Utrecht. "The more measuring the better. All the users together make up a community of clean air advocates. Our ambition is to expand that community into a global network of cyclists who monitor air quality. Including in places where it is not currently being monitored," says SODAQ CEO Ollie Smeenk.

The new AIR
A smaller, smarter version of the sensor was developed with a new mounting system, making this AIR the most user-friendly model to date. Both mobile and static, the device measures particulate matter (PM2.5,1.0,10), temperature and humidity every ten seconds. Lights on the sensor notify the user of the air quality. This data is transmitted to the global map on an hourly basis via LTM/NB-IoT networks, where both the individual and collective results can be displayed.

To ensure that the AIR also reaches people on an individual level the company is launching the device on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, on November 16th.

Read the entire press release at www.sodaq.com/sodaq-air.

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