The Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD) will begin remotely measuring vehicle emissions on the roads of Abu Dhabi using the latest innovative technology.
In partnership with 4 Earth Intelligence Environmental Consultancy LLC (4EI) and Hager Environmental & Atmospheric Technologies (HEAT) of the United States, EAD will be using HEAT’s patented NASA Spinoff remote-sensing system, EDAR (Emissions Detection and Reporting), which will detect and quantify on-road emissions measurements using its laser-based overhead detectors in real time. The testing period will last for three weeks and be conducted across six different locations in Abu Dhabi.
Through this non-intrusive technology, EAD will be able to accurately detect and quantify various gases being emitted from the tailpipe of a moving vehicle in real-time. This is in addition to identifying the vehicle license plate number, which is used only to acquire technical information of the vehicle, like brand, model, fuel type, emission standard and vehicle weight. No personal data will be used in this study.
The initiative is a part of the Integrated Air Quality Management Programme established by EAD. The initiative will establish a baseline for future policies and regulations, identify the main emitting vehicle classes and technologies, and help support the design of effective mitigation measures. The study will also establish the input data for air quality modelling, develop local air and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission factors, while enhancing academic research and innovation projects.
EAD will also be is partnering with three significant entities in Abu Dhabi that include Abu Dhabi Police, Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), Integrated Transport Center (ITC) and Monitoring and Control Center (MCC). The project entails EAD remotely measuring vehicle emissions on the roads of Abu Dhabi using cutting edge, state-of-the-art technology.
Through the partnership, Abu Dhabi Police will be responsible for the technical information of the vehicles and traffic management during the monitoring and data collection exercise. DMT will be providing the permits to place EDAR remote sensing equipment on the side of the road and will also manage all other authorisations and approvals. ITC will coordinate traffic flow information and site selection recommendations, such as toll gates, bridges etc.
By using this advanced technology, EAD will be able to automatically process the collected data and coordinate with the concerned authorities to match the remote sensing information and data with those in the vehicle registration databases in the emirate. During the study period, detailed analysis of the data to be collected (such as emissions in kilometers traveled, vehicle type, model year, payload, etc.) will be provided, which will contribute to developing recommendations to reduce the effects of air pollution caused by vehicles.
Remote sensing systems use absorption spectroscopy to non-intrusively measure pollutant concentrations in the exhaust plumes of in-use vehicles. A light source is placed above a roadway, with the instrument oriented so that the light beam produced by the source traverses the exhaust plumes of passing vehicles. Each remote sensing measurement lasts for less than one second and yields an estimate of the concentration of pollutants in the exhaust plume. Remote-sensing systems measure nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon dioxide (CO2), and Particulate matter (PM).