Her name is MONICA and we're not talking about a movie star or a new supermodel. We are talking about the portable smog detector designed by the Enea Research Center in Portici (NA).
Thanks to this small object it will be possible to monitor the pollution level of a certain area. And thanks to the information collected and shared between the various users it will be possible to know the safest routes for our health.
MONICA: monitor and share
MONICA is the acronym for COOPERATIVE MONITORING OF AIR QUALITY and has two specific functions: to monitor and share.
As big as a small hard disk, MONICA is a concentrate of sensors useful for measuring the levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. But its main feature lies in the fact that it can connect to any smartphone. Thanks to a dedicated app it is in fact possible to always have the pollution levels in the area under control with your mobile phone. We will also be able to share the collected data with other users, creating a map of the air quality of our city. In this way it will be possible to know the best and least polluted routes for our walks.
A very useful object, considering the more than 400 thousand deaths that pollution causes every year in Europe alone.
Crowdfunding
Fundraising will end on December 17th (www.citizenscience.enea.it) for the project, supported by the PostePayCrowd program. The goal is to reach 6 thousand euros useful for making the first 10 copies to be distributed to as many volunteers. Once this last phase has also been completed, and any bugs or defects fixed, MONICA will be placed on the market.
Enea researchers have repeatedly stated that MONICA will not replace traditional detection models. Instead, the aim is to bring the community closer to science by projecting Italy into the program Citizen Science. Program that provides for the participation of citizens in scientific research and very widespread in several countries, but not ours.
