Ever wondered how polluted your road is? Or how about your local area?
Well a new initiative by air-monitoring company Plume Labs is about to give you the answer thanks to a flock of sensor-laden pigeons.
The Pigeon Air Patrol will see a flock of pigeons fly around London collecting valuable air pollution data and then live-tweeting it out to the public.
Over the course of three days the 10 pigeons will fly around the capital while Londoners will be able to request an air pollution update on their local area by tweeting them their location at @PigeonAir.
Each pigeon will be equipped with a lightweight air pollution sensor which can then send data back to Plume Labs in real-time.
While it might sound like something out of Monty Python, the Pigeon Air Patrol is an effective tool, not only at raising awareness about urban pollution but also by providing genuinely useful air cleanliness data for Plume Labs.
Romain Lacombe, CEO at Plume Labs said: “Air pollution is a huge environmental health issue, killing 10,000 people every year in London alone."
"Putting air sensors on the back of pigeons goes beyond raising awareness of this problem and helps Londoners understand the impact of pollution in an accessible, tangible and immediate way. DigitasLBi is also helping us to recruit beta testers who will be the first to access our devices, to build a collaborative, human-powered air quality monitoring network across London.”
