Vehicle Emissions: New sensor technology to improve air quality in cities

By Christoph Pelzl Researchers at TU Graz are working together with European partners on new possibilities of measuring vehicle emissions. Today, air pollution is one of the biggest challenges facing European cities. As part of the Horizon 2020 research project CARES (City Air Remote Emission Sensing), an international research consortium is working on new contactless exhaust measurement methods that will enable municipalities to take emission-reducing measures. In concrete terms, the researchers want to develop new sensors that can be attached to roadsides, crash barriers or traffic signs which detect the exhaust emission of passing vehicles in a matter of seconds. "We want to monitor vehicle emissions in cities and environmental zones under real conditions, without having to interfere with free-flowing traffic," explains Alexander Bergmann, head of the Institute of Electronic Sensor Systems at Graz University of Technology. He and his team are primarily responsible in the project for all aspects of particle measurement - a field in which the Institute is one of the world's leading institutions. Manifold possibilities of traffic regulation.