How technology is helping clean up the environment – in the skies and under the seas
- In China, fighting pollution is one of the ‘three tough battles’, together with poverty reduction and achieving financial stability
- More than 45 major Chinese cities have said they plan to establish a waste sorting system by the end of the year and smaller cities will follow suite by 2025
Attached to a drone, the palm-size device has a more acute sense of smell than a dog and can reach heights out of reach of traditional air quality stations.
Called Sniffer4D, it can detect and analyse in real time up to nine different types of gases and particles in the atmosphere.
Developed by Shenzhen-based cleantech start-up Soarability, the device can be attached to drones or ground vehicles and, according to company founder and chief executive Steven Jiang.
First launched in 2018 and upgraded in April this year, it is now being used to monitor air pollution, ship emissions, pipelines and hazardous material leakage in more than 20 countries, including China, the US and Japan.
“During our tests, Sniffer4D is not as accurate as the site-specific air detection stations, which are much larger and more expensive, but it performs better than traditional handheld devices,” Jiang said.
He added that the device is not intended to replace larger air quality stations, rather complement them with a mobile unit able to detect air quality beyond the reach of ground stations.