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It has been on their wish list for quite some time, but now the moment has arrived: from 2024, the Air View cars will be fully electric. Lizzy and Lucy, as the researchers have affectionately named the cars, have been registering the air quality in European cities since 2019. Jules Kerckhoffs serves as coordinator for the project and is responsible for processing the data. He explained the project to us.

“The Air View cars offer us an innovative tool for taking drive-by measurements of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, soot and ultrafine particulate matter,” says Jules Kerckhoffs, a researcher at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, part of the UU Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Together with a team of experts, he focuses on mapping and predicting air pollution. In 2019, the researchers entered into a partnership with Google. The researchers attached modern measuring equipment to Street View cars, which were then driven through the streets of Copenhagen and Amsterdam for a period of two years. Google donated the cars to Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, after which they were sent to explore Basel, Barcelona, Munich, Augsburg, Rome, Athens, Rotterdam and Lodz, Poland. Now, the introduction of the electric vehicles is opening up new cities.

Spreading pollutants

“This method for recording mobile data at a large scale is rather innovative. Because we spend a period of time driving around for eight hours a day and taking measurements every second, we collect a wealth of information,” says Kerckhoffs. “We use this to create detailed air-quality maps and to demonstrate at a large scale how harmful particles spread within a local area. This is vital knowledge to have, particularly when you're talking about ultrafine particulate matter and soot. So far, no European legislation has been drafted in connection with these particles – but it is likely that they pose a serious risk to public health.”

So far, no European legislation has been drafted in connection with these particles – but it is likely that they pose a serious risk to public health

Charging via a single charging point

Kerckhoffs tells us that the measuring equipment in the cars is of laboratory quality and was not easy to integrate into the vehicles. “Like the monitoring equipment for ultrafine particulates, the other devices are extremely costly and, taken together, so big and bulky that we had to take the backseats out of the cars.” The purchase of the electric vehicles then presented a new challenge for the researchers. “In the current cars, the batteries of the measuring equipment were charged while driving. But that's not possible with EVs: it would shorten the range, meaning we couldn’t travel as far on a single battery charge,” he explains. The team came up with the solution of charging the car and the measuring equipment at night, via a single charging point.

Charting healthy routes

“How cities put our results to use will depend on their individual goals,” Kerckhoffs continues. “We work with various partners to identify useful applications. There is obviously a great deal of interest from area developers, but Public Health Services, businesses and scientists also use our maps in their work. And residents can consult the public maps to help them chart a healthy route for walking or cycling.”

The renowned architecture firm Gehl has designed future neighbourhoods for Copenhagen that include what they’re calling ‘Thrive Zones’. These zones are intended to protect certain places in the city, such as schools and playgrounds, from pollution and to give young children access to cleaner air. The city hopes to use the maps to encourage more sustainable means of transportation. By planting hedges as a buffer between the street and the pavement, the city can create healthier cycling and walking routes that are far enough away from car traffic.

There is a lot of interest from area developers, Public Health Services, businesses and scientists

Kerckhoffs’ role is not limited to collecting data and setting out varied driving routes. “I specialise in data technology, which also means that I focus on storing, cleansing, analysing and processing that data. No easy task when you’re dealing with millions of data points each day. You can’t just scroll through an Excel file and check for errors.”

“What I like about this work is that it lets me deliver something tangible in a short amount of time,” the project coordinator emphasises. “I don’t have to conduct epidemiological research in order to draw conclusions about healthy urban living – which is not to say that there is no place for such research. Both methods are important and they complement one another. The same applies for mobile monitoring as opposed to monitoring from a single location. The first method lets you cover a large area. And the second gives you insight into developments over time.”

He hopes to use the new cars to take measurements in even more European cities and ultimately, to compile an air-quality map that covers all of Europe. Kerckhoffs concludes: “When I look at the growing interest and how our data is leading to concrete applications, I expect we'll be able to make that happen.”

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