The recent times of the world economy has been seeing a downfall for a majority of reasons. One such very vital reason is pollution and the drastic impacts like global warming, climate change and ozone layer depletion that it brings along with itself.
Pollutions happens for a majority of causes and each cause has its own separate impact on the environment, a different scale of impact and a different solution for that impact. It is not easy or very simple to hence understand each pollutant or to keep track of them all at once.
It is because of the modern trends and widespread pollution, the world needs to work on a better system to monitor pollution levels of various environmental aspects. This is easily done via the system of quality monitoring in various regions.
Among that, air quality monitoring is extremely crucial considering how the quality of air levels is dropping at a really fast pace and it complexity to purify it as well.
Soil and water can be easily segmented, cleaned and returned back to the environment. But with air, the battle gets a little difficult and hence, precaution is needed rather than the cure in terms of air quality standards.
What is air quality monitoring?
Air quality is a type of environmental sensor monitoring where it is a part of three types of sensors, air, water and soil respectively.
To understand, we must know that there are different kinds of pathogens that impact and contaminate the environment around us. For example, we have air pollutants which enter the environment from a range of sources like laboratories, refineries, factories and vehicles.
These pollutants are a part of the air around us on multiple different levels and hence have different scales of impacts on individual and societal health.
Hence, here comes in Air monitoring. It allows to understand the current quality of air, the level of pollutants and even predict what the future situation is going to be like. In this process, mostly an air sample is taken by diffusion or by biomonitoring and then analyzed for required results.
At the end, it is done to understand where there is a violation of standard air quality levels or commonly called as the ambient air quality. This way, one also gets to record the air levels, the improvements or detoriation in the same, over a period of time while understanding the reasons and efforts which led to such improvements or degradation of the air quality in any particular region.
For example, it is only by air control monitoring one can confirm and justify how lead concentration in the air of the United States has decreased over the years, especially due to control technology in various sampling stations of the region.
Why is Air quality monitoring important?
1] Initiate Action
Air quality monitoring is supposed to give real-time data via usage of various options like the Oizom system. This way, a nation or state can get quick and timely information about the state of the public atmosphere and alert its citizens in case the situation is getting out of hand.
To take preventive and precautionary action, air quality monitoring is how when gets data in hand to analyse. Regulation of different pollutants like O2, NO2, PM10, PM2.5, ozone, lead, arsenic, nickel, CO and benzeneetc allows control action against any pollutant which crosses the ambient level or goes beyond set standards.
2] Niche work
There are various air control monitoring stations that have been set to help not just sensor the environmental levels of pollution but also provide a platform for other niche work. Various environmentalists, researchers, biologists and business interest groups use air quality monitoring data and facts in analysis and conclusions.
This is how information is generated regarding efficient control measures, long-term safety and ways to manage corporate social responsibility via removing the negative externalities caused by pollution.
3] Create Understanding
To scientifically understand the environment and to say, work on the wind, numbers are vital. A data base is collected via air quality monitoring and the station works to create a resource work to assess the situation. Air quality trends are figured out, air quality models are evaluated and then research is done by the support staff.
This way, air pollution data is also provided to the public to inform them and grant them information which can be a cause of concern.
What are the requirements of an air quality monitoring system?
Well, the system that is used has to be highly real-time and be acceptable to the world air quality monitoring standards. The more advanced analytics provided, the better. Now, there are three types of monitoring that are commonly used.
1] Manual Monitoring
Here, like the name suggests, the entire process is a manual one. The sampling, weighing, recording and analyzing is all done with manual equipment and hand. This methodology is not extremely real-time and creates a lag in information transfer.
2] Continuous Monitoring
Here, only the maintenance of the equipment is manual and all other processes of sampling, weighing, recording and analyzing is automated and real-time. This creates a quick transfer of information and on-time live monitoring of air quality levels.
3] Satellite monitoring
This is used to keep track of an entire large-scale region and pollution trends in the region. Data from on ground work is used and cloud analytics is also used. It goes on to give diurnal and seasonal cycles of pollution trends on a mass-scale.
Understanding and using air quality monitoring is extremely crucial for the people and the youth of the 21st century to understand. Businessmen need to it to control their factory emissions.
Governments need it to develop smart cities and schools/colleges need it to build a sustainable ecosystem. It is high time that we take the results of air quality monitoring seriously, evaluate them and incorporate the findings and conclusions derived in our day to day lives, to fight the battle against pollution.
