The leaking of environmentally damaging pollutants into our waters and atmosphere could soon be counteracted by a simple mathematical algorithm.
Presenting their research June 26, in IOP Publishing‘s journal Inverse Problems, the researchers, from Université de Technologie de Compiègne, believe their work could aid efforts to avoid environmental catastrophes by identifying the exact location where pollutants have been leaked as early as possible.
In the event of an oil spill across a region of the sea, researchers could collect samples of pollutants along certain sections of the body of water and then feed this information into their algorithm.
The algorithm is then able to determine two things: the rate at which the pollutant entered the body of water and where the pollutant came from.
This isn’t the first time that mathematical algorithms have been used to solve this problem; however, this new approach is unique in that it could allow researchers to ‘track’ the source of a pollutant if it is moving or changing in strength.
via Science Daily
The Latest Streaming News: identifying pollution locations updated minute-by-minute