Knoxville, TENN – Hager Environmental & Atmospheric Technologies (HEAT), is currently conducting a study in London where levels of the harmful air pollutant nitrogen dioxide are often the highest in Europe. HEAT has been in London and Birmingham during the month of February working for the Department for Transport, Kings College, and the University of Leeds to deploy their EDAR emissions camera for the first time in the United Kingdom.
This week, EDAR will be on Marylebone Road, a top tourist destination and a highly populated and traveled thoroughfare in the heart of London. EDAR’s technology is able to detect and quantify the emissions of vehicles traveling on-road and can provide an accurate and precise picture of how the vehicles in London are performing.
Dr. Karl Ropkins of the University of Leeds states: “One of the truly exciting elements of this work is that it provides us with the most direct measure of exhaust emissions of NO, NO2 and PM2.5, the species at the centre of our most significant air quality concerns. It has the potential to be the causal measure that could link in with conventional air quality monitoring practices to help us better understand and better manage our urban pollution hotspots.”
Dr. Francis Pope, an atmospheric scientist at the United Kingdom’s Birmingham University, said: “As the VW scandal showed, it is imperative that vehicle emissions are measured under real-world driving conditions. These cameras could transform our ability to monitor pollution.” Reception by the public has also been extremely positive with many stating that it is about time there is a real-time, 365-day solution for testing instead of only taking cars to the inspection station once a year.
HEAT has performed similar studies in the United States. Allowing jurisdictions to see that the EDAR system could provide a convenience factor in the United States to motorists that is unprecedented by saving them a trip to the smog station if their vehicle’s emissions are within the mandated guidelines.
The EDAR system is based on similar principles to NASA’s ASCENDS satellite, which orbits the earth measuring CO2 emissions. EDAR is able to image the plume of exhaust from a moving vehicle and identify and quantify the gases to the single digits parts per million. This allows for continuous monitoring where problems can be addressed quickly and efficiently and reduces the need for the burdensome yearly garage testing.
Hager Environmental and Atmospheric Technologies, LLC (HEAT) was founded in 2009 by PhD Molecular Physicist, J. Stewart Hager. Dr. Hager has over 25 years of experience working with remote sensing technology, including consulting with NASA Langley on the ASCENDS satellite. He works with a team of experienced engineers and technicians, cumulatively, which represents over 80 years of professional experience.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please call HEAT at +1 865-288-7890 or submit an inquiry through our contact page.