A giant helium balloon in the skies of Paris gives city residents a very clear idea of how polluted the air is at any given time. The tethered balloon gives real-time reports of atmospheric pollution using a lighting system that can be seen from more than 12 miles away.
From Physorg.com:
A company called Aérophile announced its recent launch of the gas balloon, known as the AERO30NG Aérophile 5500 model, which is located in the Parc Andre Citroën in Paris. Aérophile manufactures tethered gas balloons as tourist and cultural attractions for places including Disney Village in Paris and the Great Park Balloon in Irvine, California.
The newest balloon, which is filled with 6,000 cubic meters of helium, will serve as both an eco-diagnostic public awareness tool as well as a tourist attraction.
Around the city, air pollution data will be collected by several sensors set up by Airparif, an organization that measures air quality in France. Based on this data, the Aérophile balloon will display two measurements: ambient air quality and air pollution produced by auto emissions, which is measured at major traffic junctions.
The balloon’s color signifies the ambient air quality using three projectors that are located in the middle of the balloon. For example, red signifies highly polluted air, orange for polluted, yellow for moderate, light green for clean, and green for very clean.
There’s a second display at the bottom of the balloon that shows traffic pollution levels. Both displays can be seen both day and night.
This is brilliant. What better way to get people to notice the city’s air pollution levels? It’s as simple as looking up at the sky. It couldn’t be more visible. Brilliant!
Link [Physorg.com]
