Four years ago, a few Google Street View cars in Denver took part in an experiment: As the cars made their usual rounds capturing photos block by block, they also used sensors from a company called Aclima to take hyperlocal measurements of air pollution. Now, after a long period of research and development and testing in California, the tech is scaling up to 50 Street View cars in cities including Houston, Mexico City, and Sydney.
The Street View cars in Oakland carried both scientific-grade equipment and Aclima’s miniaturized sensors, so the company could compare the performance. The devices are now both accurate and affordable enough to scale up. While smaller sensors are becoming cheaper in general, some struggle with accuracy. Aclima worked to create algorithms and designed small hardware that can measure multiple pollutants as accurately as traditional lab equipment, an approach that the EPA validated.
“[Cities] need to understand where that pollution is and who it’s affecting, and then really be able to take action based on that data to understand if what we’re doing is having an impact,” says Herzl. “Right now, there is no infrastructure for that. We talk a lot about climate change, but we are missing the data infrastructure to manage it.”
The newly equipped cars will hit streets this fall. “What we’re really trying to achieve here is for the first wave toward our vision of ubiquity,” says Herzl. Aclima hopes to add the technology to Street View cars everywhere, continuously mapping pollution as they drive. The company may partner with other large fleets, such as city bus fleets or ride sharing cars.