Watching Mephitic Air

Watching Mephitic Air is an audio-visual installation visualising and sonifying pollution data from SE1. Five years of data from between 31st August 2016 and 31st August 2011 from the Old Kent Road pollution sensor operated by Kings College is shown at a rate of one day a second. The shape of the stream is dictated by the wind speed and direction. The size of the stream responds to the intensity of the pollutants that day.

The three streams represents Nitric Oxides (NOX), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and PM10s - particles of between 2.5 and 10 microns in size. Most of these pollutants are produced by car exhausts. NOX and NO2 are direct products of internal combustion. NOX is gas at room temperature and is thus represented as light, gaseous bubbles. NO2 is liquid at room temperature, though due to its volatility and the heat of the exhaust, quickly evaporates. This is represented as the bronze liquid it is when it’s stable. PM10s are a by-product of the catalytic converter of most cars which use platinum and palladium.

• http://tobiasrevell.com/Watching-Mephiti...