Australian environmental monitoring technology provider EnviroSuite will participate in a pilot project to analyse the air quality in the Spanish port of Gijón.

Starting later this month, and initiated by EnviroSuite’s Spanish distribution partner BlacktoGreen, the project is part of a wider initiative by the regional Asturias government to improve the air quality of the Gijón region, due to its high concentration of industrial facilities and shipping activity.

The project has been earmarked to run for six months, with options to extend it as early findings are collected and dissected.

EnviroSuite will be using connected sensor platforms that measure level of particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, benzene and ozone.

The monitoring network will also include a weather station that will measure a number of ambient conditions including wind speed and direction. It’s expected that the station will allow EnviroSuite to pinpoint the source of contaminants and predict their movements across the region.

The collected data will be fed into EnviroSuite’s cloud platform, where real-time analytics will provide the regional Asturian government the opportunity to identify risks as they occur and respond rapidly to changing air quality conditions.

In a statement EnviroSuite’s European general manager Chaim Kolominskas, said that the company’s expertise gained from its technology implementations at other ports around the world will be brought to bear in Gijón.

“We have EnviroSuite monitoring four other ports worldwide, catering for six separate clients, so we have significant experience in working with port communities,” he said.

“Ports are highly industrious and can have a significant impact on local air quality so it’s important we consider a wider range of substances.”

EnviroSuite hopes the exercise will give Gijón’s companies a chance to improve the efficiency of their environmental management, using predictive management and real-time analysis capabilities to reduce their operating costs and protect their social licence to operate.