Google Streetview: More Than Just Eyes
Right now Google Streetview cars fitted with air pollution monitors driving around London are taking readings of pollutants every 30 meters. The first cities Google did this air pollution tracking in was their own base of the San Francisco Bay Area. The data is publicly available (upon request) , and revealed that air quality can vary greatly even on the same street.
Google plans to expand this mapping project to other cities around the world.
One of the limitations with this data is that it covers distance spatially but not temporally. The Bay Area data is taken over the course of a year, but then the monitoring stops. The London data may be likewise, although the study is ongoing.
Another issue is who is behind the research. This global project is funded by a whole host of foundations and is in collaboration with the C40 Cities network. This network is comprised of 40 cities who have vowed to take a stronger stance on climate change. It is noteworthy that there is the inclusion of city officials through C40, but the program is run by a private company and funded mostly by nonprofits. For this to be a sustainable program, I feel it should be organized and funded by the governments of the cities it is taking place in. In that way it can continue for over a year and will be integrated into the environmental monitoring system that is already in place.
Fedschun, T. (2018, September 18). Google Street View cars to be outfitted with pollution sensors to measure US, Europe air quality. Fox News. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/us/google-street-view-cars-to-be-outfitted-with-pollution-sensors-to-measure-us-europe-air-quality
Lomas, N. (n.d.). Google StreetView cars to help map pollution in London. TechCrunch. Retrieved from http://social.techcrunch.com/2018/06/21/google-streetview-cars-to-help-map-pollution-in-london/
Tousignant, L. (2018, September 12). Google Street View to start mapping air pollution. New York Post. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2018/09/12/google-street-view-to-start-mapping-air-pollution/
