Visual radar for pollution, forest fires
Greek firm Raymetrics is one of a handful companies in the world developing special applications for forecasting the weather, for the remote monitoring of pollution and for timely notifications about a forest fire.
The products developed by the Attica-based company rely on Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology, which dates to 1960. These are laser beam devices created by company founder Dr Giorgos Georgousis and are regarded as particular important now that many enterprises are seeking to reduce their environmental footprint.
The device is very different to traditional sensors, which only record data at the spot where they have been installed, without offering any information on the atmosphere above.
Indeed, major companies such as Ternium Steel Latin America’s biggest steel industry with an $8 billion capitalization, use Greek technology for monitoring the air above and around its plants in Brazil and Argentina.
The Raymetrics devices work like visual radars and remotely monitor the atmosphere, air pollution, volcano dust, clouds and such, at up to 20 kilometers.
