REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY BACKGROUND

Pioneered by Environmental Systems Products (ESP) in 1992, Remote Sensing Devices (RSDs) are the world’s quickest and most convenient form of motor vehicle emissions testing. ESP’s patented AccuScanTM 4000 measures vehicle exhaust in less than one second, evaluating over 3,000 vehicles per hour.

REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY

Stationed along the side of a road, Remote Sensing Devices (RSDs) project infrared and ultraviolet light beams through passing traffic. The unit instantly analyzes motor vehicle exhaust by measuring how much pollution the beams absorb. The quick, unobtrusive drive-by emissions test allows drivers to have their vehicle tested without visiting an inspection station. A digital camera takes a picture of the vehicle’s license plate; ESP’s proprietary TagEdit™ software merges vehicle registration information with the emissions test result and license plate image to create a test record.

Historically, RSDs have measured light-duty motor vehicle emissions — cars, vans and light-duty trucks. However, ESP engineers have advanced remote sensing technology and Heavy-Duty Remote Sensing Devices(HDRSDs) can now zeroin on fine particle pollution, or soot from school and transit buses, trains, ferry boats, airplanes, trucks and other on- and off-road commercial vehicles.

GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS

ESP is using remote sensing to measure exhaust from heavy duty diesel vehicles including Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit buses in Boston, the Staten Island Ferry in New York, metro school buses in New Jersey and city buses in Tucson, Arizona.

State programs have traditionally pulled heavy duty vehicles off the road for random, visual checks using an opacimeter that measures smoke — or coarse particles of soot. RSDs measure the most harmful pollutants in diesel exhaust, fine particles one-thirtieth the size of a human hair. Health care officials and the EPA have used scientific evidence to conclude that fine particles of soot are more dangerous to public health than coarse particles.

ESP’s remote sensing systems measure diesel emissions without interrupting the nation’s important flow of commerce and transportation. Trucks and buses keep on rolling as ESP technology monitors pollution through drive-by tests. Trucking and bus companies also stand to save millions of dollars in fuel costs because better maintained engines perform at peak efficiency, last longer and use less fuel.

PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFITS

Remote sensing benefits public health by identifying vehicles emitting high levels of hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), microscopic diesel particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO). CO is an invisible, poisonous gas. HCs and NOx combine in the presence of sunlight and heat to form ground-level ozone. Ozone sears the lungs, can permanently damage the respiratory system, and harms the body’s defense against infection and disease. Ozone sends people to hospital emergency rooms and causes premature deaths. It aggravates and can even cause asthma in children. Some researchers have linked high levels of vehicle exhaust to childhood leukemia. Fine particles from diesel exhaust lodge deep in the lungs and can cause lung and heart disease.

HISTORY

ESP developed its first commercial remote sensing device in 1992 and has led the industry ever since. AccuScanTM 4000 is ESP’s fourth generation of remote sensing technology and has been used to measure light-duty motor vehicle emissions in 16 states and eight countries. The company is providing government agencies around the world with convenient,effective clean air solutions through advanced remote sensing technology.

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