Environmental Health Monitoring with Smartphone Application

Abstract

Environmental health is an important issue today due to the increasing number of people living in urban areas and the threat to human health from various kinds of pollution. It is very dangerous for us to carry out daily activities where the health of the environment cannot be known with certainty. In this research we study, understand, design and develop smartphone applications that can indicate if the environment where we conduct our everyday activities is free from harmful pollution. The measurement of various types of pollution requires a variety of sensors. This study examines which types of pollution can be detected by today's modern smartphones. In addition to pollution observations, today's smartphones also provide sensors that measure acoustic quantities, light strength, and air pressure. The aim of this research is the development of mobile device applications (Android) and external sensors. The applications to be developed are expected to monitor and provide early warning on the environmental health conditions of a place in real-time. People can then avoid places where pollution levels endanger human health.