Project example: Hamburg – The densest air quality monitoring network in the world
Customer:
Microsoft
Sector:
For-good, environmental justice
Project duration:
1 year
Project type:
Public utility air quality monitoring network
Challenge:
Creation of one of the world’s densest urban air quality monitoring networks to better understand hyperlocal pollution patterns and the influence of traffic congestion on air quality
Result:
Deployment of 35 real-time air quality sensors within only 14.2 km², enabling street-level pollution analysis and demonstrating the scalability of AI-powered environmental monitoring networks
PROJECT CONTEXT
Urban air quality monitoring networks are traditionally based on a limited number of large and expensive measurement stations. As a result, cities often lack the spatial resolution required to understand how air pollution differs between individual neighborhoods, streets or traffic corridors.
To address this challenge, Breeze Technologies launched one of the world’s densest air quality monitoring networks in Hamburg, Germany. The project aimed to demonstrate how low-cost IoT sensors, cloud computing and artificial intelligence can enable a new generation of highly scalable environmental monitoring systems.
After a public call for participation launched through social media, Breeze Technologies installed 35 interconnected environmental sensors in the district of Hamburg-Altona. The sensors were hosted by private citizen, local businesses and local public institutions. Real-time data was shared publicly through Breeze Technologies’ community portal.
Due to the unprecedented sensor density, the system was capable of detecting air quality variations at street and even city-block level.
PROJECT GOALS
The primary goal of the project was to analyze and better understand the relationship between traffic flow, congestion and urban air pollution exposure.
In addition, the project sought to demonstrate how AI-supported environmental sensor networks can provide cities and communities with more detailed, cost-efficient and actionable environmental intelligence compared to traditional monitoring infrastructure. Public access to the collected air quality data was intended to increase transparency and public awareness regarding urban air pollution.
PROJECT RESULTS
The project successfully demonstrated that dense networks of compact environmental sensors can generate highly granular air quality insights in real time. The deployed sensors continuously measured key pollutants including nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone (O₃), particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO).
By combining sensor measurements with AI-based cloud calibration and analytics, Breeze Technologies achieved data quality levels comparable to traditional monitoring infrastructure while significantly reducing deployment complexity and costs.
The project further demonstrated the value of hyperlocal environmental data for smart city applications, including traffic management, urban planning and clean-air policy development. It also highlighted how environmental intelligence can be made more accessible to citizens through publicly available real-time air quality information.
PUBLICATIONS
Breeze Technologies launch air quality project with Microsoft (Hamburg Business, 2020)
Project report / whitepaper: The influence of traffic on hyperlocal air quality