monitoring of air pollution using wireless sensor networks · monitoring of air pollution using...

Monitoring of Air pollution using Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Air pollution being one of the major factors affecting

the environment and nature`s chores. Monitoring it is

of vital importance on our part, as we human beings

are bestowed the most by mother earth. Considering

the degree of importance, monitoring of air pollution

caused by the automobiles should not just be restricted

to one time pre-commission reports or the time based

checks, but have a continuous check to keep the air

pollution within a permissible limit. In this paper we

are proposing an approach using chemical sensors to

constantly check emissions from vehicles to monitor

and maintain the best emission level to reduce the

pollution due to automobile carbon emission. The

simulation results show that dynamic monitoring of

carbon emission can be done to effectively curb pollution from vehicles.

Keywords—monitoring; pre-commission; air pollution;

carbon emission

1. INTRODUCTION WIRELESS sensor network (WSN) refers to a

group of spatially dispersed and dedicated sensors for

monitoring and recording the physical conditions of the

environment and organizing the collected data at a

central location. WSNs measure environmental conditions like temperature, sound, pollution levels,

humidity, wind speed and direction, pressure, etc.

A WSN consists of few hundreds to thousands of

sensor nodes. The sensor node equipment includes a

radio transceiver along with an antenna, a

microcontroller, an interfacing electronic circuit and an

energy source usually a battery. The size of the sensor

nodes can also range from the size of a shoe box to as

small as the size of a grain of dust

In recent days carbon emission from the

automobiles are being the major cause of air

pollution[1]. Periodic emission test is being done to

control the same. An emission test cycle is a protocol

contained in an emission standard to allow repeatable

and comparable measurement of exhaust emissions for

different engines or vehicles. Test cycles specify the

specific conditions under which the engine or vehicle is

operated during the emission test. Specified parameters in a test cycle include a range of operating temperature,

speed, and load. Ideally these are specified so as to

accurately and realistically represent the range of

conditions under which the vehicle or engine will be

operated in actual use. Because it is impractical to test

an engine or vehicle under every possible combination

of speed, load, and temperature, this may not actually

be the case. Vehicle and engine manufacturers may

exploit the limited number of test conditions in the

cycle by programming their engine management

systems to control emissions[2] to regulated levels at

the specific test points contained in the cycle, but create

a great deal more pollution under conditions

experienced in real operation but not represented in the

test cycle. This result in real emissions higher than the

standards is supposed to allow, undermining the

standards and public health.

1.1. APPLICATION OF WIRELESS

SENSOR NETWORKS

Of many, the below listed applications are well known

applications of WSN[3,4,5] along with their brief

description:

a) Area monitoring

Area monitoring is a common application of WSNs. In area monitoring, the WSN is deployed over a

region where some phenomenon is to be monitored. A

military example is the use of sensors detects enemy

intrusion; a civilian example is the Geo-fencing of gas

or oil pipelines.

b) Health care monitoring

The medical applications can be of two types:

wearable and implanted. Wearable devices are used on

the body surface of a human or just at close proximity

of the user. The implantable medical devices are those

that are inserted inside human body. There are many

other applications too e.g. body position measurement

Kiran Kumar S Dept. of ISE

BMS College of Engineering Bangalore, India

[email protected]

M Dakshayini Department of ISE

BMS College of Engineering Bangalore, India

[email protected]

Kiran Kumar S, Int.J.Computer Technology & Applications,Vol 5 (3),1213-1218

IJCTA | May-June 2014 Available [email protected]

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ISSN:2229-6093

and location of the person, overall monitoring of ill patients in hospitals and at homes.

c) Forest fire detection

A network of Sensor Nodes can be installed in a

forest to detect when a fire has started. The nodes can

be equipped with sensors to measure temperature,

humidity and gases which are produced by fire in the

trees or vegetation. The early detection is crucial for a

successful action of the fire-fighters; thanks to Wireless

Sensor Networks, the fire brigade will be able to know

when a fire is started and how it is spreading.

d) Landslide detection

A landslide detection system makes use of a

wireless sensor network to detect the slight movements

of soil and changes in various parameters that may

occur before or during a landslide. Through the data

gathered it may be possible to know the occurrence of landslides long before it actually happens.

e) Water quality monitoring

Water quality monitoring involves analysing water

properties in dams, rivers, lakes & oceans, as well as

underground water reserves. The use of many wireless

distributed sensors enables the creation of a more

accurate map of the water status, and allows the

permanent deployment of monitoring stations in

locations of difficult access, without the need of manual

data retrieval.

f) Natural disaster prevention

Wireless sensor networks can effectively act to

prevent the consequences of natural disasters, like

floods. Wireless nodes have successfully been

deployed in rivers where changes of the water levels have to be monitored in real time.

g) Industrial monitoring

1) Machine health monitoring

Wireless sensor networks have been developed for

machinery condition-based maintenance (CBM) as they

offer significant cost savings and enable new

functionality. In wired systems, the installation of

enough sensors is often limited by the cost of wiring.

Previously inaccessible locations, rotating machinery,

hazardous or restricted areas, and mobile assets can

now be reached with wireless sensors.

2) Data logging

Wireless sensor networks are also used for the

collection of data for monitoring of environmental

information; this can be as simple as the monitoring of

the temperature in a fridge to the level of water in overflow tanks in nuclear power plants. The statistical

information can then be used to show how systems have been working. The advantage of WSNs over

conventional loggers is the "live" data feed that is

possible.

h) Water/Waste water monitoring

Monitoring the quality and level of water includes

many activities such as checking the quality of

underground or surface water and ensuring a country’s

water infrastructure for the benefit of both human and

animal.

i) Applications of WSN for Air pollution

monitoring

Wireless sensor networks have been deployed in

several cities (Stockholm, London and Brisbane) to

monitor the concentration of dangerous gases for

citizens. These can take advantage of the ad hoc

wireless links rather than wired installations, which

also make them more mobile for testing readings in different areas.

Air pollution is a major issue that needs to be

addressed, since it has some very serious effect on

health. This leads to respiratory disorders.

My proposed solution of monitoring the hazardous

pollutants is to dynamically and continuously check the

emission from the vehicle every moment the vehicle is

running there by drastically reducing any chance of

polluting vehicle going undetected.

Rest of the paper is organized as follows, section 2

explains System model, Existing system and proposed

system, section III briefs about the Simulation model,

section IV explains the working of the flowchart,

section V describes the CRC cards, section VI gives the pseudo code of the system and section VII concludes

this work.

2. SYSTEM MODEL As there was less number of vehicles and the

amount of air pollution by the automobile emission was

very less, Until 1992 India protected its automobile

industry using license. Many two wheel, three wheel

and four wheel vehicles lacked catalytic converters. Per

vehicle emissions were amongst the highest in the world. The refining of oil and supply of fuel was

owned, regulated and run by the government and the

fuel quality was lax.

In 2005, India adopted emission standard of Bharat

Stage IV for vehicles, which is equivalent to Euro IV

European standards for vehicle emissions.



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Nevertheless, the old pre-2005 vehicles, and even pre-1992 vehicles are still on Indian streets [13].

Bharat stage IV emission standards are emission

standards instituted by Government of India to regulate

the output of air pollutants from internal combustion

engine equipment’s, including motor vehicles. The

standards and the timeline for implementation are set

by the Central Pollution Control Board under the

Ministry of Environment & Forests.

The standards, based on European regulations were

first introduced in 2000. Progressively stringent norms

have been rolled out since then .All new vehicles

manufactured after the implementation of the norms

have to be compliant with the regulations. Since

October 2010, Bharat stage III norms have been

enforced across the country. In 13 major cities, Bharat

stage IV emission norms are in place since April 2010.

The phasing out of 2 stroke engine for two wheelers,

the introduction of electronic controls have been due to

the regulations related to vehicular emissions.

While the norms help in bringing down pollution

levels, it invariably results in increased vehicle cost due

to the improved technology & higher fuel prices.

However, this increase in private cost is offset by

savings in health costs for the public, as there is lesser

amount of disease causing particulate matter and

pollution in the air.

The first emission norms were introduced in India in

1991 for petrol and 1992 for diesel vehicles. These

were followed by making the Catalytic converter

mandatory for petrol vehicles and the introduction of unleaded petrol in the market.

On April 29th 1999 the Supreme Court of India

ruled that all vehicles in India have to meet Euro I or

India 2000 norms by June 1st 1999 and Euro II will be

mandatory in the NCR by April 2000. Car makers were

not prepared for this transition and in a subsequent

judgment the implementation date for Euro II was not

enforced.

In 2002, the Indian government accepted the report

submitted by the Mashelkar committee. The committee

proposed a road map for the roll out of Euro based

emission norms for India. It also recommended a

phased implementation of future norms with the

regulations being implemented in major cities first and

extended to the rest of the country after a few years. Based on the recommendations of the committee, the

National Auto Fuel policy was announced officially in 2003. The roadmaps for implementation of the Bharat

Stage norms were laid out till 2010. The policy also

created guidelines for auto fuels, reduction of pollution

from older vehicles and R&D for air quality data

creation and health administration.

Standard Reference Date Region

India

2000 Euro 1 2000

Nationw

ide.

Bharat

Stage II Euro 2

2001

NCR*,

Mumbai,

Kolkata,

Chennai.

2003.

04

NCR*,

13 Cities†.

2005.

04 Nationw

ide.

Bharat

Stage III Euro 3

2005.04

NCR*,

13 Cities†.

2010.

04 Nationw

ide.

Bharat

Stage IV Euro 4

2010.

04

NCR*,

13 Cities†

* National Capital Region (Delhi)

† Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru,

Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur,

Lucknow, Sholapur, Jamshedpur and Agra

Table 1: Emission Standards

The above standards apply to all new 4-wheel

vehicles sold and registered in the respective regions. In

addition, the National Auto Fuel Policy introduces

certain emission requirements for interstate buses with

routes originating or terminating in Delhi or the other

10 cities.

For 2-and 3-wheelers, Bharat Stage II (Euro 2) will be

applicable from April 1, 2005 and Stage III (Euro 3)

standards would come in force from April 1, 2010.



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2.1. EXISTING SYSTEM

Currently we have Emission Testing Centers to check

out the Quality of Emission from an Automobile. This

emission test centers will be affiliated to the transport

Department of the local/central government. They test

the Vehicles/Automobiles in the Test result: Idling.

This emission testing centers would check only for the

CO (carbon monoxide) and HC (hydro chloride)

content from the emission of the automobile.

If in case the Automobile emits more than the

permissible value then a Case would be filed against

the Vehicle. The amount of contents emitted by the

automobile would be recorded in the column Measured

Unit.

These centers mainly work according to the Vehicle

Meets Emission Standards Prescribed by rule 115(2) of

central Motor vehicle Rules 1989.

Accordingly the certificate given by the test centers

would be valid for Six months from the date of test.

This certificate would also include Photo of the vehicle

in which the Number plate details would be present. It

would also contain some more details of the vehicle

like Vehicle Number, Month and year of

manufacturing, Odometer/Speedometer reading, Type

of the Fuel etc.

The Main Disadvantages that are Associated with

Emission Testing Centers are

a) These centers are Static.

b) The Automobile Owner has to Waste his Precious

time in taking the Vehicle personally to the test

centers.

c) There is a check on limited contents of the

pollution.

d) The Actions taken are not quite effective.

e) There is no Continuous check on the condition of

the Testing Centers.

f) Test centers are limited.

g) These test centers are not efficient and they do not

match the current generation.

2.2. PROPOSED SYSTEM MODEL The proposed system would dynamically and

continuously monitor the emission from an automobile.

The sensors are placed or fixed to the automobiles near

to the exhaust and these sensors are given a minimum

threshold values. When the emission exceeds the

minimum threshold value the sensor communicates

with the RFID and this RFID triggers both the owner of an automobile and to the nearest server.

a) System Setup: The sensor and RFID module to be

attached near to the Automobile’s engine or

Automobile Exhaust.

b) Functionality of

a. Server module: The server module has a large

database maintained in it. The database would

contain all the related information about the

automobile, like the details of the owner,

engine number, chasi’s number, year of

manufacturing, year of sold and some other

RTO details.

b. Control System module: The control system

module is the one which is responsible for

notifying the owner of the automobile about

the excessive emission that the automobile

emitted. This notification from the control system would be sent to the owner of the

automobile through an SMS by accessing his

phone number details from the database stored

in the Server.

Figure 2: System Model

3. SIMULATION MODEL Figure 2 shows the proposed system, which consists of

an Automobile Exhaust, Sensor and RFID unit, the

nearest Node, Server and the Control system.

The Automobile Exhaust causes emission. The

smoke that is emitted by the automobile would be

sensed by the sensor unit. The Sensor and the RFID

unit would receive automobile emission as its input and

produces a signal as its output which triggers Server.

The sensor would be provided with a minimum

threshold value or minimum permissible value. Once

the emission exceeds the permissible value, the nearest

node is signalled. It would intern send the signal (UID-

Unique Identification number) to the nearest node. The



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nearest node would be decided using Dijkstra’s algorithm. Once the information (UID) reaches the

nearest node it would transmit the UID to the Server.

Server would contain the database of all the

vehicles in the state or country. And in that database it

contains an attribute called UID of all the vehicles. By

collecting the UID from the RFID, the matching UID

would be found out in the database. Using this UID the

further details of the Automobile would be found and

the same details would be transmitted to the Control

System. When a particular vehicle violates the emission

rule for more than N number of times, the server would

inform the Control System.

Now the control system upon receiving the

details of the automobile it would notify the Violator

(the owner of the automobile). The control system

would notify the owner of the automobile (violator)

through an SMS.

Simulation model tries to emulate how my solution to check the pollution could be implemented in

the real world. The shortest path to the closest server

(node) is calculated using Djiktra's algorithm.

Simulation model is written in C# on. NET platform,

with MicrosoftSQL server for database access

Table 2 shows the parameters used in the

simulation, description and possible allowed values of

the variables.

Table 2: Simulation parameters

4. FLOW CHART

5. CRC CARDS

5.1 Sensor and RFID detect() : This method accepts the emission value of

an automobile continuously and detects whether the

emission is greater than the permissible value.

warningMsg() : This method is invoked on detection

of excess emission and would display a warning

message.

Variable Name Description Value it can take

COInPPM

which as name suggest

tracks the amount of

Carbon-monoxide

emitted by a vehicle

It takes any value over 4000

CarCount

keeps tab on number of

car present in the

simulation at that

instant when

simulation started

Any number greater

than 0 less than 10

ServerCount

keeps tab on number of

server present at that

instant

Any number greater than 0 less than 15

Distance

Distance hold the

distance between car

and the closest server

Can take any positive value greater than or

equal to zero



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5.2. Server updatedb() : This method is invoked on

receiving a signal from RFID and would update the

database maintained in the Server.

informcs() : This method is invoked once

the count value exceeds N. This method sends

the information of the owner of the automobile to the

Control System.

5.3. Control System

notify () : This method is used to notify the

owner of the automobile with an SMS.

6. Algorithm Step 1: Sensor in the automobile senses the emission

continuously.

Step 2: The sensors in the exhaust, monitors the

exhaust contents.

Step 3: If the contents contain more quantity of

pollutants, the owner is warned about this

and count is noted.

Step 4: After the count exceeds the pre-defined value of

count, the details of the owner of the vehicle is

sent to the nearest traffic police station.

Step 5: authorities have all the details of the violators,

ensuring the violation is not perpetuated.

7. CONCLUSION

One of the major contributing factors of air pollution is

emission from vehicles, so it is a pressing need to curb

the emission of polluting gases as much as possible.

Our proposed work has achieved this by making use of a chemical sensor and WSN, where, vehicles that are

polluting beyond safe limit are kept in constant check by continuously monitoring the level of hazardous

gases. This can help our traffic police to track and

control such vehicles.

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