An AI-based indigenous air quality monitoring system is all set to remotely monitor air quality. Prof. Rao Tatavarti, Director of Gayatri Vidya Parishad-Scientific and Industrial Research Centre (GVP-SIRC) & GVP College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam, has developed this photonic system for real-time remote monitoring of air quality parameters. Supported by the Department of Science and Technology’s Clean Air Research Initiative, the system can identify, classify, and quantify various pollutants simultaneously (of orders of less than one part per billion) and meteorological parameters, with very high precision, sensitivity and accuracy.

This is an innovative application of the principles of laser backscattering, statistical mechanics, optoelectronics, artificial intelligence, machine/deep learning, and Internet of Things. Currently, the AUM system is patent pending. 

AUM was successfully evaluated during laboratory trials with gold standards in collaboration with EffecTech, UK, and also compared in the field with imported systems from France, and Australia. The system is highly sensitive and accurate and capable of simultaneous detection and quantification of all air quality parameters and offers a number of merits over any of the currently available conventional systems. It is also portable, compact, low powered and economical, works on plug and play system, requires no setting uptime, and no additional civil infrastructure for housing. The AI-based system also provides information on all gases and meteorological parameters simultaneously. 

This non-intrusive remote, real-time monitoring system with very high sensitivities and accuracies is capable of monitoring in both spatial and temporal domains, with very high sampling frequencies. Also, the data from spatially separated sensors can be streamed to a cloud server, from where digestible real-time encrypted information on the dashboard is made available to the user at any part of the world. 

According to the World Health Organisation, poor air quality is responsible for more than 7.5 million fatalities worldwide annually. Thus there is a high necessity for accurate, yet cost-effective monitoring of air quality parameters as monitoring is critical to the solution. The current systems and technologies used for air quality monitoring are prohibitively expensive for wider deployment. This underlines the need for the development of systems for real-time remote monitoring of relevant air quality parameters.

 In this initiative, Prof Tatavarti was supported by Prof. P. Arulmozhivarman from the School of Electrical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore, and other team members. The system titled AUM (Air Unique-quality Monitoring) had CATS Eco-Systems, Nashik as the technology transfer partner for commercialization.

Authorities believe that the system can boost the nation’s efforts towards self-reliance in high-end technologies can additionally be instrumental in supporting the endeavours in improving the nation’s health and economy under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.