AirSENCE™ Deployment in the Archaeological Site of Kerameikos, Athens.

Athens, Greece – An AirSENCE™ unit has been successfully deployed at the archaeological site of Kerameikos in Athens. AUG Hellas’ air quality monitoring device, AirSENCE™, will be used to continuously measure air quality data real-time to provide valuable insights on how chemicals in the environment can impact the preservation of historical monuments.

Kerameikos is an archaeological site in the center of Athens, Greece. Located in the northwestern edge of the city, it used to be a small part of the ancient Attica Municipality of Kerameon, which is one of the largest municipalities in ancient Athens. Kerameikos comes from the Greek word “κεραμική” which means pottery. It was a place of  settlement for potters and vase painters . The most important Athenian vases come from the tombs of Kerameikos, which used to be the production centre of the famous Attic vases. Now, the archaeological site is under the protection of the Greece Ministry of Culture and Sports and it is open to public.

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With great respect and admiration for the cultural heritage of Greece, AUG Signals Hellas successfully began a research program in Kerameikos with the cooperation of local authorities. Providing cutting-edge technology for air quality monitoring, AUG Signals Hellas will support local conservation efforts for the monuments of the site. An AirSENCE™ unit was deployed on-site and provides information on a real-time basis, 24/7, on the concentration of important chemical contaminants in air that can cause the degradation of antiquities.

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This is a three-year research project with the site of Kerameikos. The continuous acquisition of chemical concentration data will help develop a novel computational model which can be used to predict future trends and potential damages to monuments and historical artefacts.

As a result, this research project will help the conservation of cultural heritages with the deployment of more AirSENCE™ units in archaeological sites around Greece and rest of Europe.

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