*The United States has made great
progress since 1970 in cleaning the air, and
15 November 1990 marked a milestone in
Clean Air Act history with the signing of the
1990 Amendments. These amendments set
the stage for protecting the ozone layer,
reducing acid rain and toxic pollutants,
and improving air quality and visibility.
Measuring air quality and weather
conditions is increasingly important for
those involved in the construction of
new infrastructure. Whether building
residential units, roads, bridges or any
other piece of infrastructure, activities
such as land clearing, running diesel
engines, demolitions, and burning can
Air and weather monitoring
enables safe construction
In city environments, every square
metre costs. Overseas, in an effort to
support the dietary needs of the often
colossal populations that inhabit their
limited spaces, urban farmers use
unconventional infrastructure such as
skyscrapers and rooftops to harvest
crops in and atop vertical farms. To
effectively grow within such structures
— which can be significantly less
accessible than the conventional rural
landscapes where most traditional
all adversely impact air quality, placing
the health of the general population
(particularly those with respiratory
diseases) at risk.
Assessing atmospheric conditions,
such as wind speed and direction, is
also important to predict the risk of
such pollution spreading to adjoining
territories. Research has demonstrated
that asthmatics are 40% more likely
to suffer acute asthma attacks on
high pollution days than on days with
good air quality. Whether mandated to
comply with legislation, such as the EPA
Clean Air Act, or proactively initiated
by companies seeking to minimise their
environmental footprint, measuring
gaseous air pollutants such as nitrogen
dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon
monoxide, ozone, and particulate
matter helps reduce pollution for the
benefit of all a city’s inhabitants.*
Smart sensors and special IoT
communication networks are the two
key components of any smart city
project. Initiatives to implement the
technologies mentioned here, such
as the London Air Quality Network
(which may involve a significant
open-source component) and San
Francisco’s ongoing efforts to develop
a smart sewer network, show that IoT-
supported sensor technology can have
a far-reaching impact on the lives of
urban citizens around the world. u
Smart agriculture
farms exist — such farmers need
real-time access to vital agricultural
parameters such as evapotranspiration
rates, soil moisture saturation, and
groundwater conditions.
Smart,
IoT-powered
sensors
allow these agricultural pioneers 24/7
access to this vital information, no
matter where in the world (or city) they
are located.
In this regard, in the US, Chicago is
quickly emerging as America’s urban
agriculture capital with 820 urban
farms now in operation.
monitoring uses advanced sensing
technology to analyse and interpret
raw measurement data to improve
systemwide power-quality delivery.
This ensures that urban infrastructure
systems requiring a consistent supply
of high-voltage power, such as
an electrified light rail, suffer less
damage (such as from overheating)
and component failures during
their useful lifespan.
About the author
Sivan Sidney Cohen P.E. is the
general manager of Ayyeka Inc.,
the US subsidiary of Ayyeka, an
industrial Internet of Things (IoT)
remote monitoring provider.
Water Sewage & Effluent September/October 2017
15