Daily TribuneBinay explained that the air quality sensors help the city identify pollution sources and implement countermeasures, and to detect changes in weather patterns to anticipate climate change impacts on air quality.
(FILE PHOTO)
Photo by John Louie Abrina
The importance of Makati City’s air quality sensors is evident as they accurately detected the quality of air in its various barangays during the height of volcanic smog or vog emissions from the Taal Volcano this week.
This comes as the local government of Makati stressed that the sensors have greatly helped the city government provide timely and accurate air pollution advisories to the public through the sending of real-time data to the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Operations Center via wireless data transmission.
Makati Mayor Abby Binay said that with the use of the sensors, they can pinpoint areas with serious health hazards due to poor air quality.
“This has been very helpful during the recent vog emissions from Taal Volcano,” Binay said.
She added that the smart devices also help the city government monitor compliance with the Clean Air Act and related regulations, particularly among businesses.
There are 824 units of indoor air quality monitoring devices and 200 outdoor air quality monitoring devices with solar panels installed in strategic locations throughout the city.
Binay explained that the air quality sensors help the city identify pollution sources and implement countermeasures, and to detect changes in weather patterns to anticipate climate change impacts on air quality.
Air quality sensors provide real-time monitoring of heat index, ambient temperature, humidity, CO2 level, and dust levels (Particulate Matter). These sensors can also view accumulated data and generate reports.
This year, the city government has allocated a total of P165 million for the procurement of various types of smart devices in line with its adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in its environmental management initiatives.
