The link information below provides a persistent link to the article you've requested.

Persistent link to this record: Following the link below will bring you to the start of the article or citation.
Cut and Paste: To place article links in an external web document, simply copy and paste the HTML
below, starting with "<a href"
To continue, in Internet Explorer, select FILE then SAVE AS from your browser's toolbar above. Be
sure to save as a plain text file (.txt) or a 'Web Page, HTML only' file (.html). In FireFox, select FILE
then SAVE FILE AS from your browser's toolbar above. In Chrome, select right click (with your mouse)
on this page and select SAVE AS

Record: 1
Google equips 'Street View' cars with sensors to monitor air
pollution. By: Beatrice Gitau Staff writer. Christian Science
Monitor. 7/29/2015, pN.PAG. 0p. Reading Level (Lexile):
1430. (AN: 108604148)
Persistent link to this record http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
(Permalink): direct=true&db=bwh&AN=108604148&site=ehost-live
Cut and Paste: <A href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=bwh&AN=108604148&site=ehost-
live">Google equips 'Street View' cars with sensors to monitor
air pollution.</A>
Database: Regional Business News

Google equips 'Street View' cars with sensors to monitor air pollution
From checking out various cities to taking a virtual vacation, Google's Street View a technology
featured in Google Maps and Google Earth has provided 360-degree views from positions along
many streets in the world.

Now, instead of taking panoramic pictures of everything it can, Google Street View is now mapping
that which the eye cannot see.

Google has partnered with tech startup Aclima to equip Street View cars with a mobile sensor
platform to map urban air quality in a project conducted with the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and NASA.

"We have a profound opportunity to understand how cities live and breathe in an entirely new way,"
Aclima CEO Davida Herzl said in a statement. "With more than half of the world's population now
living in cities, environmental health is becoming increasingly important to quality of life."

The first pilot project was conducted in Denver, Colo., where three of Google's Street View cars
were equipped with Aclima's sensors as they cruised around on city streets, collecting information
about the particles floating in the air for over a month.
"They measured for chemicals that are hazardous to breathe, like nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide,
ozone, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon, particulate matter, and Volatile
Organic Compounds (VOCs)," Tech Crunch reports.

To assess if air quality is meeting or exceeding public-health standards, the EPA relies on an
extensive network of stationary equipment, placed in urban areas, that measure carbon monoxide,
nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and photochemical oxidants.

"Environmental air quality is an issue that affects everyone, especially those living in big cities," said
Karin Tuxen-Bettman, program director for Google Earth Outreach. "This partnership with Aclima
enables us to take the next steps in our pilot project to utilize Street View's existing infrastructure
and test Google Maps as an environmental sensing platform for mapping the environment."

This fall, Google and Aclima will expand their mapping efforts to the San Francisco Bay area.
Eventually, the mobile sensing platform will roll out to many more communities where Google Street
View vehicles drive.

"There's unlimited potential for our work to help improve the health and resilience of communities
everywhere," Herzl said.

This is not the first time Google has partnered with Aclima. The two companies previously partnered
to track the quality of air inside Google's 21 office buildings around the world. The network
processes 500 million data points daily, including comfort measures of temperature, humidity, noise,
and light, and air pollutants like carbon dioxide and particulate matter.

~~~~~~~~
By Beatrice Gitau Staff writer

2015 The Christian Science Monitor (www.CSMonitor.com). Limited electronic copying and
printing is permitted under this license agreement. Copies are for personal use only. For re-use and
publication permissions, please contact copyright@csps.com.