Tomorrow Easton’s Young Citizen Scientists will have many opportunities to work with world-class Academics.
Part of a £250,000 project devised and coordinated by St Marks Road Community Group.
Today:
Easton, Bristol has the only European Space Agency air quality sensor in the UK. There are only 17 in the world right now. It’s the latest in a unique set of tools showing what is happening on St Marks Road, when it happens, and displayed where it happens.
Working with Universities, Citizens and Community Groups, the Council of Bristol Mosques and RADE [Residents Against Dirty Energy] have formed a joint project – Saaf Hava – to bring a network of sensors to Easton. The original goal for Saaf Hava [Urdu for ‘Clean Air’] was to set up 20 sites across Easton to monitor air pollution in real-time. The Pandemic delayed that because it wasn’t safe to go in and out of Citizens homes. Instead, the team put their efforts into talking to other sensors sources.
That’s how Saaf Hava was given the latest sensor from the European Space Agency Education project. It’s unique in the UK and only one of 17 globally. Measuring NO2, Particulates, CO2, Carbon Monoxide, and Ammonia, the ESA sensor will be paired with a Telraam Traffic counter once it has undergone evaluation. Both located on St Marks Road will give real-time measures of traffic and air pollution there. A display is being developed for St Marks Road so that, for the first time, you will be able to see what is happening on that Road while you are standing there.
Soon Saaf Hava will add another unique sensor to the set with the launch of SEDI, developed by the University of Bath, and measuring Ozone and many of the pollutants monitored by the Space Agency sensor. SEDI is named after the young Iranian woman developing this new sensor.
This sensor information will inform Young Citizens Scientists working alongside researchers and industry experts. These experts come from 4 Universities [UWE; Bath; Bristol; Sheffield] and STEM Ambassadors from Industry. Called the Easton Data Garden, the initiative encourages a lifelong interest in the Sciences, using information about the very streets where people live.
Saaf Hava uses the following sensors
- Particulate Sensors via the Sensor Community [sometims called Luftdaten]
- Traffic Sensors via Telraam – part of the We-Count project at UWE
- ESA Air Pollution Sensors
- SEDI Air Pollution Sensors from the University of Bath
- Old Smart Phones repurposed as CCTV to capture events
Being assessed for future use
- Noise Sensors under development by the Sensor Community
Tomorrow:
The digital display destined to fill the window of the Community Kiosk on St Marks Road is the product of a UWE team working on the ‘Sound and Vision’ Project to enhance the Grand Iftar planned for this April.
The website behind the digital display comes from a UWE CAKE Team [Community Actions and Knowledge Exchange]. This website will become an interactive digital Newspaper – Working Title “Easton News” – that will mix the sensor results with the work of the Easton Data Garden, local Community Events and Shopping Information from St Marks Road.
Much of the work, premises, and equipment is freely donated, but this is a £250,000 project if it were paid for. Only a united community like St Marks Road could achieve this incredible mix of skills and resources. That is why it is so successful in attracting equipment like the ESA sensor.
To get involved in Easton Data Garden, contact Maryan Abdirahman [email: maryan@baggator.com ].
For more information, contact
Stuart Phelps [email: stuart@baggator.com]
Mobile: 07751 313864
4th January 2022