AIR – PRIN
Animal-borne systems for environmental monitoring
Categories: Ambient air | Cycle of pollutants | In progress | Montelibretti | National | Earth observation
Keywords: Aerosol | technology | Earth Observation | environmental monitoring | sensors | social acceptance | sustainability | Space | Remote sensing | environmental assessment
Financing: PRIN
Period: October 2023 – September 2025
Total project budget: € 265.024,00
Total budget CNR IIA: € 65.000,00
Scientific Director: Antonietta Ianniello
Abstract of the project
The ARIA project will develop new tools for environmental monitoring based on the application of a series of sensors on free-flying birds. The main objective is to develop and test miniaturized air samplers for birds, mainly for the detection of CO2 and NOx. By bringing together biology and air quality measurement, it is intended to demonstrate that free-flying birds can be exploited as sampling platforms that provide high-resolution spatial and temporal data in a cost- and energy-efficient way.
The performance of the bird-associated sensors and their calibration will be evaluated: The CNR_IIA group will test the CO2 and NOx sensors in the field and in the laboratory to determine their reliability and uncertainty in different environmental conditions and calibrate their response by comparing their performance with that of standard professional instruments, according to a test protocol developed at the beginning of the activity and improved during the evaluation process.
The aim is to transform the common species that live in our cities (pigeons and seagulls), often perceived as a nuisance by citizens, into a community resource that can help collect data on air quality in large areas and at various heights of the atmospheric column.
CNR-IIA
University of Rome 3;
University of Rome ""Foro Italico""
University of Rome 3;
University of Rome ""Foro Italico""
Antonietta Ianniello,
Christian Bassini,
Francesca Vichi,
Andrea Imperiali,
Julius Esposito,
Mauro Montagnoli,
Raffaele Salemme