Empower the Public with Personalised Air Quality Information PROJECT BROCHURE NOVEMBER 2017
PERSONALISED REAL TIME AIR QUALITY INFORMATICS SYSTEM FOR EXPOSURE http://praise.ust.hk
WHAT IS PRAISE-HK Air pollution is a major environmental concern in Hong Kong. Can you, as an individual, do anything to reduce your exposure and control how air pollutants affect you? The scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Institute for the Environment are developing a game-changing new mobile app to make this possible.
Mobile app to put personalised air quality information at your fingertips Personalised Real-Time Air Quality Informatics System for Exposure – Hong Kong (PRAISE-HK) is a project with an ambitious goal: to empower people to manage and reduce their exposure to air pollutants. The PRAISE-HK mobile app is powered by a state-ofthe-art system we are currently building to analyse and forecast the air quality in Hong Kong down to the street level. This will translate into real-time information that you can access through the GPS-enabled mobile app to answer your most pressing air pollution questions:
Which air pollutants are you most sensitive to? Where are you being exposed to them?
Where do you get the largest dose of air pollution each day – at home, in the office, at school, on the street or on public transport?
Is it really helpful for your kids to stay indoors when the air quality is bad outside?
What is the most effective way of reducing your overall exposure?
What is the difference in your pollution exposure among different commuting routes? Which streets around your home and office are the least polluted? The most?
KEY FEATURES PRAISE-HK combines cutting edge technologies, air quality modelling system, big data and exposure science to bring you the below awesome features: The PRAISE-HK project is being rolled-out in
3 phases ... 1
2
PRAISE-AQ PRAISE-HK Real-time & 3-day Forecasting High-res Street-level Air Quality Map Outdoor Air Quality Specific Location Health Alerts Indoor Air Quality* Air Quality Comparison between Routes Daily Pollution Exposure Review Personalised Health Alerts & Recommendations
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3 ADVANCED PRAISE-HK
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2018
2019
2021
PRAISE-AQ Real-time high resolution air quality spatial map
Zoom in on a map to see outdoor air quality and associated health risks on a street-by-street level. Use this to guide you in making healthier day-to-day choices.
PRAISE-HK Air pollution exposure health-risk review
This upgrade will include readings from selected indoor environments (like homes, offices, schools or on public transport) to calculate your total exposure to pollutants from your travel history. Use this to identify air pollution hot-spots and plan future itineraries accordingly.
ENHANCED PRAISE-HK Personal air quality & health alert generator
Incorporating data collected through the first two phases, this release of the app will include personalised alerts and recommendations tailored to your individual health condition and daily habits.
PRAISE-AQ
PRAISE-HK
Enhanced PRAISE-HK
MILESTONES Urban-ADMS
(Air quality modelling system)
2018 PRAISE-AQ
Air Quality Distribution Quantification Mobile App, Web Database & Server Development Urban informatics & Big Data Analytics Transport Modelling
2019 PRAISE-HK
2021 Enhanced PRAISE-HK
Personal Exposure Health-risk Analysis Personal Air Pollution Exposure Assessment
Develop an advanced real-time air quality modelling system to analyse and predict 72-hour air quality variations in Hong Kong down to the street level. Characterise the air quality concentrations in different indoor microenvironments as a function of nearby outdoor air quality concentrations. Integrate crowd-sourced data collection into the system through the mobile app, facilitating the generation of personalised health alerts and recommendations. Using urban informatics and big data analysis, provide dynamic adjustments to the PATH/Urban-ADMS output, to better incorporate real-time changes in emissions or other factors affecting local air quality variations. Develop a transport model to help estimate short-term variations in air quality as a result of changes in traffic loading on different streets. Develop an exposure-to-risk module, a personalised user exposure-to-outcomes (physical signs and symptoms) database, and sign and symptom forecasts based on air quality and exposure predictions. Develop a personal air pollution exposure assessment system that can report an individual user’s total air pollution exposure from a particular trip, and a breakdown of air pollution exposure by activity or micro-environmental type within any given period.
WHO WILL BENEFIT GENERAL PUBLIC Free and accessible to everyone with a smart phone, PRAISE-HK will provide personalised recommendations to help individuals make informed, exposure-reducing decisions, such as: • When and where to do certain activities • Which route to take when travelling • What mode of transportation to use
PROPERTY MANAGERS We spend about 80 to 90 of our time indoors, but this does not mean we are safe from air pollution. In fact, our studies show that outdoor air pollutants can penetrate indoors and pose just as much threat to our health. Our indoor and outdoor measurements can help property managers for schools, offices, shopping malls, amenity centres and residential properties identify needs to improve the air pollutant filtration abilities of their ventilation systems. This will help protect indoor environments from the pollution outside.
VULNERABLE GROUPS
POLICY-MAKERS
PRAISE-HK generates personalised health alerts and recommendations based on the health conditions of individual users. This will be particularly useful for those most sensitive or vulnerable to air pollution, like asthma and allergy patients, children, and the elderly.
The high-level air quality measurements and crowd-sourced public health information we collect will be a strong evidence of pollution patterns, and useful reference for the government’s future urban planning and policymaking.
• Visit the PRAISE-HK website CONCERN GROUPS / NGOs
GENERAL PUBLIC
GET INVOLVED
USERS
• Follow and share the updates on our social media platforms • Subscribe to the PRAISE-HK newsletter • Participate in prototype usability tests • Share views in concern/patients group workshops • Participate in system personalisation tests • Co-host environmental education workshops
BUILDINGS
HOMES
SCHOOLS
BUILDINGS
• Participate in school briefings (for students, parents, teachers and staff) • Conduct outdoor air pollution infiltration surveys • Conduct indoor air quality characterisation surveys • Co-host business briefings (for property managers, civil engineers, building consultants)
Together, let’s develop a Smart App & shape a Smart City As a member of the Hong Kong society, you are an important part of PRAISE-HK. See how your engagement helps us deliver true benefits to Hong Kong: Air pollution literacy: We are going beyond raising awareness to providing a friendly interface for you to learn about air pollution and its impact on your day-to-day experiences. By building up the society’s ‘literacy’ of these issues, we are nudging collective behaviour change. When exposure-conscious choices become second nature, we can all enjoy better health. Citizen science: Through integrating practical feedback from concern groups like patients, professional athletes, parents, and carers of the elderly, we will be able to enhance the PRAISEHK system so that it is especially useful for those who need it most. Open data policy: Key stakeholders and interested parties can use our data to review their environmental management strategies and make improvement plans accordingly.
PRAISE-HK Personalised Real-time Air quality Informatics System for Exposure - Hong Kong http://praise.ust.hk E: praise@ust.hk Institute for the Environment The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology http://ienv.ust.hk E: ienv@ust.hk