The first PurpleAir Pollution Sensor in Latin America has gone online in Colombia’s second biggest city, Medellin.
The sensor was activated at its station near Medellin’s San Diego shopping mall and is now transmitting publicly available air quality data to the citizens of Medellin and the world.
Pollution is a perennial problem in Medellin. Every March, the media is filled with stories about the dire levels of pollution caused by the city’s growing number of cars and climate conditions.
In March of this year, Medellin citizens put massive gas masks on statues of local artist Fernando Botero in a playful response to an ongoing pollution crisis in Colombia’s second city.
Medellin’s Botero statues given gas masks amid air pollution crisis
According to a LinkedIn post by IBM Chief Data Strategist and Chief Data Officer of the Medellin government, Steven Adler, more sensors are planned to survey the city’s air quality.
Over the next week, five more sensors will go online and Medellin will begin Latin America’s first public pilot of citizen generated pollution data as an exercise in Data empowerment.
Medellin Chief Data Officer Steven Adler
“All the data will be published in the Open and made available to anyone who wants to study it.” Adler said.
We want to invite everyone to contribute to the growing public understanding of how hyper-local air pollution data improves data literacy, affects community health, and informs and changes public perceptions.
Medellin Chief Data Officer Steven Adler
The search for solutions continues as air pollution continues to reportedly kill more Medellin residents than gun violence.