{"id":98829,"date":"2019-08-20T18:36:48","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T18:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=434088"},"modified":"2019-08-20T18:36:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T18:36:48","slug":"germany-based-startup-breeze-is-using-ai-to-measure-and-improve-sustainable-air-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/20\/germany-based-startup-breeze-is-using-ai-to-measure-and-improve-sustainable-air-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany-based startup Breeze is using AI to measure and improve sustainable air quality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As part of our AI for Earth commitment, Microsoft supports<\/span><\/i> five projects from Germany in the areas of environmental protection, biodiversity and sustainability. In the next few weeks, we will introduce the project teams and their innovative ideas that made the leap into our global <\/span><\/i>programme<\/span><\/i> and group of AI for Earth grantees. \u202f<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Measuring and improving sustainable air quality in cities with transparant results is Hamburg-based startup Breeze\u2019s mission. <\/span>Founded in 2015, the award-winning company develops small, low-cost sensors that can be installed in almost any location, measuring pollutants such as soot, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, ozone or particulate matter, while also identifying their sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

While vehicles are a common source of pollution, large construction sites, for example, can also greatly increase air pollution in short periods of time. A local portal publishes Breeze\u2019s collected data in real time, so that affected residents can <\/span>learn <\/span>about the current situation at any given moment. In addition, Breeze has developed a comprehensive catalog of measures that helps cities and communities specifically improve the situation on the ground.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

From the beginning, Breeze has processed the data of its fully networked sensors in the Azure cloud. Breeze founder Robert <\/span>Heinecke<\/span> now wants to take his project to the next level with the help of AI \u2013 relying on the support of <\/span>AI for Earth<\/span><\/a>. Breeze has already received $ 12,000 in <\/span>cloud credits<\/span> which will be used <\/span>to set up a new machine learning development environment in Azure. \u201cWe have now set up our own AI experimental laboratory to test how <\/span>AI<\/span> can support us even better in our added value,\u201d explains <\/span>Heinecke<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

So far, <\/span>Heinecke<\/span> and his team have identified four areas in which <\/span>AI can<\/span> be used. Firstly, <\/span>AI<\/span> should significantly improve the quality of the measurement data and draw an even more accurate picture of the <\/span>data<\/span> on site by measuring both measurement errors of individual devices<\/span> as well as<\/span> <\/span>e<\/span>xcluding environmental influences from the sensor data. At the same time, <\/span>AI<\/span> will also be deployed in a predictive maintenance capacity, to <\/span>forecast<\/span> when sensors need to be serviced or even replaced. <\/span><\/p>\n

AI<\/span> will also help make precise predictions about the development of air quality in the future, such as linking weather data <\/span>to<\/span> information from its own measuring stations. <\/span>By doing so,<\/span> ill or particularly sensitive people, such as those with asthma, can prepare for <\/span>harsher conditions <\/span>in advance<\/span>. Lastly, <\/span>AI<\/span> will also help <\/span>to <\/span>streamline Breeze\u2019s consulting offer by accurately calculating which of the 3,500 identified measures can improve <\/span>the <\/span>air quality at a particular location<\/span> the best<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, pilot projects are already <\/span>running<\/span> in Hamburg, Moers and <\/span>Neckarsulm<\/span> (Germany)<\/span>, and <\/span>Heinecke<\/span> and his team are <\/span>already in negotiations with numerous other cities, although there can sometimes be friction. In Heinecke\u2019s words, \u201cthe mills of the administration grind slowly. S<\/span>ome cities may also prefer not to know exactly how bad the air really is, because then they would have to act.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

AI for Earth<\/span><\/b>
<\/span>The <\/span>AI \u200b\u200bfor Earth<\/span><\/a> program helps researchers and organizations to use artificial intelligence to develop new approaches to protec<\/span>t<\/span> water, agriculture, biodiversity and the climate. Over the next five years, <\/span>Microsoft will invest $ 50 million in \u201cAI for Earth.\u201d<\/span><\/a> To become part of the \u201cAI for Earth\u201d program, developers, researchers and organizations can apply with their idea for a so-called <\/span>\u201cGrant\u201d<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> If you manage to<\/span> <\/span>c<\/span>onvince the jury of Microsoft representatives,<\/span> you\u00b4ll<\/span> receive financial and technological support and also benefit from knowledge transfer and contacts within the global AI for Earth network. As part of<\/span> <\/span>Microsoft Berlin\u00b4s <\/span>EarthLab<\/span><\/a> and beyond, five ideas have been convincing and will be part of our \u201cAI for Earth\u201d program in the future<\/span> in order to<\/span> further promot<\/span>e<\/span> their environmental innovation<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

At <\/span>#DigitalFuerAlle<\/span><\/a> you can continue to follow the development of the projects and our <\/span>#AIforEarth<\/span><\/a> initiative.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Would you also like to apply for a grant from the \u201cAI for Earth\u201d initiative?<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Apply<\/span> <\/span>now<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

Tags: AI<\/a>, AI for Earth<\/a>, Germany<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of our AI for Earth commitment, Microsoft supports five projects from Germany in the areas of environmental protection, biodiversity and sustainability. In the next few weeks, we will introduce the project teams and their innovative ideas that made the leap into our global programme and group of AI for Earth grantees. \u202f  Measuring and improving sustainable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[280,50],"class_list":["post-98829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-ai","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}