RESPIRA-AQM: Innovating Air Quality Monitoring Through Citizen Science and AI

Nakuru, Kenya, March 21 2025 – One year after launching, the RESPIRA Air Quality Monitoring (RESPIRA-AQM) project is steadily advancing toward establishing a citizen and AI-powered early warning system for air pollution in Nakuru. The project aims to equip residents and local authorities with timely, actionable information to safeguard public health, particularly for vulnerable populations such as those affected by chronic respiratory conditions like asthma. What sets RESPIRA-AQM apart is its unique blend of community engagement and innovative technology to detect and predict air quality issues in real-time.

Kenya's weather and climate observation networks are insufficiently equipped to monitor air pollution as a growing health concern on the continent, with only few stations meeting global standards. Our team addresses this data gap by integrating various data sources such as Earth-observation satellites like the European Union’s Sentinel-5P, ground-based low-cost sensors and human sensor networks. Machine learning techniques applied to these data streams can then pinpoint sources of air pollution.

A network of low-cost sensors is being deployed across the city to measure various air quality pollutants such as PM2.5 and PM10 alongside meteorological features such as humidity and temperature. The locations for these sensors have been strategically selected based on socioeconomic and demographic factors to ensure comprehensive coverage across the city. Additionally, a few reference-grade sensors will be installed to run in parallel with the low-cost sensors, providing quality control.

In green, areas with sensors pre-installed previously by existing initiatives, i.e., Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI) and sensors.AFRICA. In yellow, identified areas for sensor deployment in Nakuru City under this project.

Another crucial pillar of the project is the AngaWatch initiative, a community-driven, human-based sensor network designed to empower Nakuru residents to actively engage in air quality monitoring and reporting. AngaWatch allows Nakuru residents to document pollution events and share personal insights about air quality in their neighborhoods. By combining this crowdsourced data with sensor measurements, we will be able to capture nuanced understandings of air pollution’s localised effects. This in turn will help identify pollution hotspots, track trends, and inform targeted policy interventions.  AngaWatch comprises two complementary components:

Firstly, the AngaWatch Air Pollution Incidence Reporting Tool offers residents an accessible online platform ( https://bit.ly/AngaWatch ) for real-time reporting of air pollution events. Through this tool, residents can submit detailed accounts of pollution incidents, highlighting emerging concerns and hotspots across the city. These community-generated reports complement sensor-based data.

Access the AngaWatch Incident Reporting Tool here to report and track air pollution events in your ward in Nakuru.

Secondly, the AngaWatch Community Observer Network (“AngaWatchers”) consists of actively involved citizen scientists who regularly participate in air quality monitoring by responding to prompted surveys about their daily experiences of pollution. Their qualitative observations provide critical insights into how air quality directly impacts residents’ lives. When integrated with sensor data, these insights enhance predictive modelling and contribute significantly to the early warning system being developed in partnership with the Nakuru Meteorological Department. AngaWatchers thus ensure that air quality interventions are rooted in local experiences, making pollution monitoring more relevant and effective.

All of this data collected from satellites, sensors, and citizen reports feed into advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models developed by RESPIRA-AQM’s data scientists. These models learn from the interplay between pollution data, weather patterns, and urban activities to forecast air quality events. Like a weather forecast for pollution, this system aims to predict high-risk air pollution periods, providing critical early warnings to residents and health authorities.

The project has recently achieved several important milestones towards the operationalisation of the early warning system. The data science team has successfully developed initial models and completed comprehensive analyses of historical air quality data from Nairobi’s Mathare area to validate methodologies. This work paved the way for deploying the models for a forecasting system tailored to Nakuru’s environmental conditions later on during the project. Meanwhile, on-the-ground sensor installations have moved beyond planning into the initial phase of deployment, with site selections finalized across all eleven wards of the city, ensuring broad spatial representation. Crucially, partnerships with Sensors.Africa and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) have been established to support sensor deployment, enhance community capacity-building, and ensure robust policy engagement. Sensors previously deployed in Nakuru by SEI will be integrated into the RESPIRA-AQM sensor network, maximizing existing resources and data coverage.

Community engagement is also progressing rapidly. The RESPIRA team has embarked on an ambitious recruitment campaign aiming for approximately 330 AngaWatchers, evenly distributed throughout Nakuru’s neighborhoods. Early March, students from Egerton University began testing the AngaWatch reporting tool, providing essential feedback to refine its usability. Additionally, a key training workshop for volunteer recruiters and citizen onboarders is scheduled at Egerton University for late March, leading up to a major community workshop set for April 28–30. This event will formally introduce AngaWatch to Nakuru residents, including panel discussions, hands-on training, and planning sessions.

Building strong partnerships has been central to RESPIRA-AQM’s approach. The project team has worked diligently to establish formal collaborations between Egerton University, KU Leuven (Belgium), the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), Sensors.Africa, Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI), and Nakuru County and City administrations. These relationships provide the technical expertise, legitimacy, and institutional support crucial for the project’s success. Importantly, the team strategically chose to locate the project’s primary office within KMD premises in Nakuru city, rather than solely at the university campus, to embed the initiative within local governmental structures. Although this decision introduced some initial delays, it ensures long-term sustainability and institutional support from city and county authorities. To further strengthen collaboration and align on shared goals, the international project team also recently gathered in Belgium for a productive workshop focused on project planning, data integration and sensor deployment strategies, and to further develop our citizen science approach.

The RESPIRA-AQM team is also planning to strenghten ties with Nakuru’s public health sector, collaborating closely with county health officials. Recent meetings have explored integrating RESPIRA’s early warning system into local healthcare initiatives, potentially allowing health centers to use air quality forecasts to advise vulnerable patients proactively. Plans are also underway to involve community health officers in spreading awareness about the project and its potential health benefits, further embedding RESPIRA-AQM into the fabric of local public health policy.

Parallel funding initiatives are securing RESPIRA-AQM’s long-term viability. A related project secured funding through the Una Europa network to investigate links between solid waste management and air pollution, focusing on Nakuru’s Gioto dumpsite. This initiative directly informs RESPIRA-AQM’s strategies for addressing pollution sources. To launch this collaboration, an international team of researchers from KU Leuven (Belgium), University of Nairobi (Kenya), Leiden University (Netherlands), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), and Université de Kinshasa (DR Congo) recently gathered for a workshop and site visits in Nairobi and Nakuru. This workshop laid crucial groundwork for future collaborative research, policy development, and community-based interventions linking waste management and air quality.

The RESPIRA-AQM team is proud to lead a pioneering effort in environmental monitoring and community empowerment. By blending advanced technology with grassroots citizen science, the project is creating an innovative model for air quality management deeply embedded in local needs and governance structures. With sensors being deployed, citizen volunteers mobilizing, and partnerships solidified, Nakuru is now well on its way toward cleaner air and healthier communities.

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