Artificial Intelligence for Pollen and Spore Detection, Forecasting and Human Health (AIPS)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Sch of Geography, Earth & Env Sciences
Abstract
Pollen and fungal spores are important for human health in both outdoor and indoor environments. They are linked to several respiratory illnesses which range in severity from minor to deadly. A high percentage of the UK population has hay fever (allergic rhinitis) due to tree and grass pollen. For many it is an annoyance that can be treated with over the counter drugs. However, for a significant percentage of population, the symptoms are far more serious, which can lead to reductions in work productivity and learning outcomes. Indoors, fungal spores are often found in damp and cold environments. These spores can also have significant health outcomes. The cost of living crisis has led to an increase in damp and mould problems within UK homes. Better detection and forecasting of pollen and fungal spores would allow for interventions to be developed that would reduce their risk to human health.
The current methodologies available for the detection of pollen and fungal spores are either expensive or time consuming, and often both. This hugely limits their use. For example, the UK Met Office currently only has available 11 regulatory grade sites for pollen monitoring from which their pollen forecast is based upon. This equates to about one regulatory pollen monitoring station per 11 million people in the UK. Similarly, UK agencies lack cheap methodologies to detect fungal spores in both outdoor and indoor locations. A cheaper, more agile detection method would much increase the UK's capacity for the detection and forecasting of pollen and fungal spores.
This proposal combines two rapidly developing technologies. It will bring together distributed internet-of-things (IoT) sensor arrays in combination with artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. The IoT sensors measure the size distribution of the small particles that are present within the air. The sources and compositions of these particles are many and varied. Atmospheric particles include bioaerosols that are composed of fragments from the biosphere, including pollen and fundal spores. Finding these bioaerosols within the much larger populations of other atmospheric aerosols, is like finding a needle in a haystack. Fortunately for this project, pollen and fungal spores have well defined sizes that are distinct to the background aerosol which makes detection possible. AI approaches will use machine learning algorithms to classify the pollen and fungal spore species of interest and generate approaches to detect them in real time. This real time detection will allow for data-driven real-time forecasts of the pollen and spore species of interest.
The project will assess the efficacy and applicability of the new AI and IoT tools with respect to the UK's bioaerosol detection and forecasting needs. The project will widely engage with UK stakeholders who are involved with monitoring and assessment of the health impacts of bioaerosols. These stakeholders include the UK Met Office, Environment Agency, and UKHSA who are named partners on the project.
The current methodologies available for the detection of pollen and fungal spores are either expensive or time consuming, and often both. This hugely limits their use. For example, the UK Met Office currently only has available 11 regulatory grade sites for pollen monitoring from which their pollen forecast is based upon. This equates to about one regulatory pollen monitoring station per 11 million people in the UK. Similarly, UK agencies lack cheap methodologies to detect fungal spores in both outdoor and indoor locations. A cheaper, more agile detection method would much increase the UK's capacity for the detection and forecasting of pollen and fungal spores.
This proposal combines two rapidly developing technologies. It will bring together distributed internet-of-things (IoT) sensor arrays in combination with artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. The IoT sensors measure the size distribution of the small particles that are present within the air. The sources and compositions of these particles are many and varied. Atmospheric particles include bioaerosols that are composed of fragments from the biosphere, including pollen and fundal spores. Finding these bioaerosols within the much larger populations of other atmospheric aerosols, is like finding a needle in a haystack. Fortunately for this project, pollen and fungal spores have well defined sizes that are distinct to the background aerosol which makes detection possible. AI approaches will use machine learning algorithms to classify the pollen and fungal spore species of interest and generate approaches to detect them in real time. This real time detection will allow for data-driven real-time forecasts of the pollen and spore species of interest.
The project will assess the efficacy and applicability of the new AI and IoT tools with respect to the UK's bioaerosol detection and forecasting needs. The project will widely engage with UK stakeholders who are involved with monitoring and assessment of the health impacts of bioaerosols. These stakeholders include the UK Met Office, Environment Agency, and UKHSA who are named partners on the project.
| Description | The combination of low cost internet of thing sensors with artificial intelligence algorithms have allowed for the detection of bioaerosols in ambient air. |
| Exploitation Route | Pollen and fungal spores are important for human health in both outdoor and indoor environments. They are linked to several respiratory illnesses which range in severity from minor to deadly. A high percentage of the UK population has hay fever (allergic rhinitis) due to tree and grass pollen. For many it is an annoyance that can be treated with over the counter drugs. However, for a significant percentage of population, the symptoms are far more serious, which can lead to reductions in work productivity and learning outcomes. Indoors, fungal spores are often found in damp and cold environments. These spores can also have significant health outcomes. The cost of living crisis has led to an increase in damp and mould problems within UK homes. Better detection and forecasting of pollen and fungal spores would allow for interventions to be developed that would reduce their risk to human health. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Communities and Social Services/Policy Education Environment Healthcare Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Government Democracy and Justice Security and Diplomacy Transport |
| Description | The project has already contributed to several non-academic impacts: - We have collaborated with the Exchange in Birmingham to increase public knowledge on the use of artificial intelligence - Sophie Mills secondment with UKHSA has created a better understanding of the stakeholders with interests in the causes and effects of bioaerosols |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | DustScan |
| Organisation | DustScan Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Our collaborators at DustScan have attended general meetings for the project and are interested in where this project could overlap with them. They provide valuable insight as a consultancy stakeholder from the industry sector. This work could potentially extend the range and type of particles that they could offer consultancy and monitoring solutions for air quality and health. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborators at DustScan have attended general meetings for the project and are interested in where this project could overlap with them. They provide valuable insight as a consultancy stakeholder from the industry sector. This work could potentially extend the range and type of particles that they could offer consultancy and monitoring solutions for air quality and health. |
| Impact | Our collaborators at DustScan have attended general meetings for the project and are interested in where this project could overlap with them. They provide valuable insight as a consultancy stakeholder from the industry sector. This work could potentially extend the range and type of particles that they could offer consultancy and monitoring solutions for air quality and health. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Environment Agency |
| Organisation | Environment Agency |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have a closely involved collaborator at the Environment Agency who actively attends regular meetings and provides input. In particular, they have been instrumental with sourcing suitable composting sites to conduct fieldwork and protocol for this. In return we hope to obtain findings that will benefit the Environment Agency, especially when it comes to regulation of bioaerosols. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have a closely involved collaborator at the Environment Agency who actively attends regular meetings and provides input. In particular, they have been instrumental with sourcing suitable composting sites to conduct fieldwork and protocol for this. In return we hope to obtain findings that will benefit the Environment Agency, especially when it comes to regulation of bioaerosols. |
| Impact | We have a closely involved collaborator at the Environment Agency who actively attends regular meetings and provides input. In particular, they have been instrumental with sourcing suitable composting sites to conduct fieldwork and protocol for this. In return we hope to obtain findings that will benefit the Environment Agency, especially when it comes to regulation of bioaerosols. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | UK Met Office |
| Organisation | Meteorological Office UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Our collaborators from the Met Office have been an active part of regular meetings and provided crucial input in terms of data availability and accessibility and keeping the research relevant to public needs and services. This research aims to benefit the goals of the Met Office and complement its work. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our collaborators from the Met Office have been an active part of regular meetings and provided crucial input in terms of data availability and accessibility and keeping the research relevant to public needs and services. This research aims to benefit the goals of the Met Office and complement its work. |
| Impact | Our collaborators from the Met Office have been an active part of regular meetings and provided crucial input in terms of data availability and accessibility and keeping the research relevant to public needs and services. This research aims to benefit the goals of the Met Office and complement its work. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | UKHSA |
| Organisation | Public Health England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The work in this grant is in partnership with the UKHSA and they have been an active part of regular meetings since the start of the award, including a meeting hosted at the UKHSA site in Chilton where all meeting participants were also given a tour of the UKHSA's relevant facilities. We have undertaken stakeholder mapping work together with the UKHSA and have used this as a platform to raise awareness of the AIPS project and create more useful connections. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The work in this grant is in partnership with the UKHSA and they have been an active part of regular meetings since the start of the award, including a meeting hosted at the UKHSA site in Chilton where all meeting participants were also given a tour of the UKHSA's relevant facilities. We have undertaken stakeholder mapping work together with the UKHSA and have used this as a platform to raise awareness of the AIPS project and create more useful connections. |
| Impact | The work in this grant is in partnership with the UKHSA and they have been an active part of regular meetings since the start of the award, including a meeting hosted at the UKHSA site in Chilton where all meeting participants were also given a tour of the UKHSA's relevant facilities. We have undertaken stakeholder mapping work together with the UKHSA and have used this as a platform to raise awareness of the AIPS project and create more useful connections. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | University of Leicester |
| Organisation | University of Leicester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have made a partnership with Leicester to conduct an intercomparison campaign at their regulatory monitoring site with their manual sampler and high-end automated bioaeorosol monitor and with our low-cost sensors alongside. Both sides will benefit by having this opportunity to collect the data from the different instruments in parallel and will contribute to the main body of data to be collected for this project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have made a partnership with Leicester to conduct an intercomparison campaign at their regulatory monitoring site with their manual sampler and high-end automated bioaeorosol monitor and with our low-cost sensors alongside. Both sides will benefit by having this opportunity to collect the data from the different instruments in parallel and will contribute to the main body of data to be collected for this project. |
| Impact | We have made a partnership with Leicester to conduct an intercomparison campaign at their regulatory monitoring site with their manual sampler and high-end automated bioaeorosol monitor and with our low-cost sensors alongside. Both sides will benefit by having this opportunity to collect the data from the different instruments in parallel and will contribute to the main body of data to be collected for this project. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Atmospheric Science Data Analytics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This presentation gave an overview of the AIPS project to provide a research exemplar that showcases state-of-the-art in data analytics within the field of atmospheric science. In particular, it highlighted the key challenges with respect to creation, processing, reproducibility, storage and sharing of data. It highlighted how industry, governance and academia can gain from the type of data analytics employed within the AIPS project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | BioAirNet Workshop 23rd Nov 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was a workshop for the network BioAirNet which brought together a focused group of eminent academics in the field of bioaerosols following workshops the previous year. The purpose of the workshop was to update attendees on progress from the goals discussed the previous year, encourage participants to think about and engage in stakeholder mapping, for networking and sharing of relevant projects within the community. The workshop sparked many discussions and attendees agreed on how the group should continue to engage in the future and appropriate strategies for improving engagement. A researcher from this project, Sophie Mills, presented and helped facilitate a portion of the day's activities and both formally (in a presentation) and informally (in discussions) advocated the AIPS project to the attending stakeholders. Attendees were given a chance to ask questions on the project, leave comments and sign up their interest. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Bioaerosols stakeholder mapping workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Stakeholder mapping workshop facilitated by members of AIPS group (Sophie, Emma and Pippa) to share results, engage with stakeholders and stimulate discussions. The AIPS project was also advertised to increase awareness and as an opportunity for other stakeholders to contribute and engage. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Filming of material for exhibition at the Exchange |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Filming carried out for material to be shown at an Exhibition at the Exchange in Birmingham. Subject was about use of AI in general, and how we were using it in our research on bioaerosols. This was an opportunity to increase public awareness of the research topics we are addressing concerning public health and a bit about the methods we use, such as AI, so the public can better understand. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Francis Pope gave the talk "Artificial intelligence for pollen and spore detection: Measuring atmospheric biome in a low-cost manner" at the "UK-US Collaboration on Air Quality Modelling & Exposure Science, 16th Annual Workshop 2023" on the 4th December. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Talk for the Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof. Francis Pope was made an honorary fellow of the Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) and was invited to present at their AGM. Within his presentation "Air pollution sensors - state of play and future directions" he provided an overview of the wide reach of his low cost sensor and AI work, including the work on AIPS. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://iaqm.co.uk/event/iaqm-agm-2023-and-keynote-speech/ |
| Description | UK Annual Aerosol Science Conference 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A platform presentation was given on the previous work that led up to the AIPS project and advocating the future plans of this project, inviting opinions and interest. With over 100 attendees from a range of academic, government and industry institutions, this raised the awareness of this project to a wide audience. Networking and informal discussions were also involved and interest was reported from the audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://aerosol-soc.com/events/annual-aerosol-science-conference-2023/ |
| Description | UKHSA & Imperial NIHR HPRU meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Attended UKHSA/Imperial College London NIHR HPRU meeting day among many eminent academics across many health related fields particularly in toxicology and epidemiology. Included networking and informal discussions on the AIPS project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |