System for Monitoring Air Quality and Smog

Abstract

Air pollution and smog events are issues that are experienced in many large cities worldwide. Vehicle emissions are the largest contributor to these problems. The system presented in this paper aims to provide air quality and smog information for possible regulation of hybrid vehicle emissions. The system will evaluate the ambient air to determine if a hybrid vehicle should rely primarily on gasoline or electric power to reduce the emissions that contribute to smog during times when smog events are either possible or occurring. The system takes in ambient environmental data through an array of sensors that are sensitive to various pollutants and that are associated with the formation and chemistry of smog. It then makes a decision as to whether a smog event is possible or if the air quality is poor according the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) set standards. This calculation allows a user to observe the ambient air quality in real time and warns them if there is a possible smog event. The system can accurately recreate the EPA's Air Quality Index in real time. This project has the great potential to reduce the frequency of smog events by cutting down the amount of pollutants that are expelled from the combustion of gasoline.