If you see a car with a strange device in New York, don't be alarmed - it does a useful job.

Mobile air sensors mounted on specialized vehicles now cross the streets of the Bronx and Manhattan. New air quality monitoring program cost $3 million, Gov. Kathy Hokul recently announced. Gothamist.

The program, which uses a mobile monitoring park, launched two weeks ago to support local governments. The program was originally announced in September last year.

The New York Air Monitoring Initiative also kicked off in Buffalo and the Capital Region. Six more communities, including Brooklyn, Queens, Mount Vernon/Yonkers and Hempstead, will begin an air monitoring program by this fall.

Hokul hailed the initiative as an important step towards understanding air quality problems in areas overwhelmed by pollution. And New York scientists said the new program could help individual communities understand their health risks.

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“New York continues to forge a sustainable path to make our state cleaner and healthier. We are also fixing decades of environmental injustice that has burdened disadvantaged communities,” Hokul said in a press release. “As someone who grew up in the shadow of a steel mill, I know firsthand the urgency of combating air pollution and climate change.”

By sending Aclima vehicles, government officials hope to collect hyperlocal data.

They can lead to an understanding of the dots of air pollutants such as greenhouse gases. They can exacerbate conditions such as asthma. The data will be analyzed by the state department of environmental protection in partnership with civil society organizations in each region.

The initiative plans to measure air pollution quarter by quarter at different times of the day. Monitoring will provide an initial verification of air quality sources for further assessment. Previous Aclima studies have installed sensors in Google Street View vehicles driving through California.

Professor Darby Jack said that hyperlocal data can be very accurate. They can measure how air quality differs along the length of the street from the curbs to the middle of the block. And also give an idea of ​​what decisions you need to focus on. A few years ago, Jack started a project to monitor the air with sensors on cyclists.

“You can see what's going on at a very detailed level. And that's real value,” Jack said. “I don’t know of any other way to achieve this level of detail other than mobile monitoring.”

The government initiative also plans to provide grants to community groups that are involved in air quality monitoring. Those who wish will be assisted with training, the purchase of air monitoring equipment and sensor technology.

“By launching this historic statewide initiative, we will develop strategies to address air quality issues in New York City's most vulnerable communities. In doing so, we will contribute to the State's national climate change goals,” Hokul said.