Since our foundation, we have privileged the opportunities of Research in context addressed to our ethic and interests: our first project, for example, concerned photovoltaic; then we conducted experiments on other green energy sources; precision farming, protection of water resources.
Today we’re proud to share our recent experience in environmental monitoring and measures against pollution.
Innovation, citizens’ active participation and synergy with institutions are the key elements in AIR Heritage
The AIR Heritage project, carried out by Comune di Portici, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II” Dipartimento di Agraria, Legambiente Campania, ENEA, Terraria Srl e ARPAC, pursues the goal of a reduction by 20% of thin and ultrathin particles. The most innovative aspect is the direct involvement of citizens, who will have the opportunity to monitor air pollution with special sensors, a real example of “citizen science”.
The sensors are named “MONICA” (acronym of Cooperative Monitoring of the quality of the Air), and they can be easily installed on bicycles, strollers and other means of transport. This will create a capillary network of data collection and citizens themselves will be able to assess air pollution during their daily movements.
The research is carried out in the town of Portici, which is particularly exposed to air pollution due to a population density among the highest in Italy: 73% urbanized area and over 4,300 houses per km2.
AGRILOGGER installed on lentiscus
Our collaboration with DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE
Topview is collaborating with the Department of Agricultural Science of the University Federico II which, as part of the project, studies the impact of climate changes on the ecosystem.
This approach requires the use of specific sensors for the assessment of the health status of plants on agrometereological parameters: we have designed the sensor “Agrilogger” and a particular “Weather Station”.
During the first trial, 8 Agriloggers were installed on the shrubs of typical Mediterranean plants: olive, mastic, myrtle, rosemary, euphorbia and juniper… collecting humidity and temperature data.
At the end of February, 6 months after their installation, the devices were recovered and the first data are currently being studied by the Department.
At the end of the trial, the Agriloggers will be installed permanently in the Royal Park of Portici.
NEXT PHASE
We’ll soon start a new phase of the trial. The installation of small Weather Stations specially designed to detect wind direction and speed, temperature, humidity, CO2 and photosynthetically active radiation. This latter parameter is of particular interest since it is the measure of the spectral range of solar radiation that plants are able to use in the process of photosynthesis.
Even Weather Stations are designed for the collection of long-term data: each of them is, in fact, equipped with a small photovoltaic panel. The transmission technology is based on Lorawan which, using a local gateway, sends data directly to the cloud.
The “instantaneous” data of the Agrilogger and the Weather Stations will be integrated with those of the MONICA system and the ARPAC fixed controllers, allowing the creation of high-resolution maps to support citizens and institutions.
AIR Heritage was the only Italian proposal to win the third European “Innovative Urban Actions”, a tool with which the European Union identifies and tests every year new solutions to problems related to sustainable urban development.