AIR@PORT: Low-cost decision support system to evaluate the impact of ships on the air quality in the port city Cienfuegos

A project team from Santa Clara (Cuba) and Antwerp will build a decision support system to evaluate the impact of ship generated emissions on human health. For this, we need to develop a low-cost air quality monitoring system that can measure air pollution (e.g., CO₂, NO_x, SO₂, O₃, particulate matter). The system will be evaluated in terms of stability, robustness and reliability. Low-cost calibration methods are essential to obtain reliable data from the sensors. The impact of a pollution source can be evaluated by deploying several monitoring devices at different distances or positions from the source (i.e., a ship in the harbor of Cienfuegos). By combining the data from the monitoring devices, it is possible to isolate the behaviour of the source from background sources (i.e., noise generated by other traffic or industrial activities, etc.). The impact of short term activities such as ship arrival, maneuvering loading and unloading at berth on human health will be studied. The academic community in Cuba will receive a powerful tool to fight against pollution and climate change.