A flock of 10 pigeons is flying over London with an aim to make city residents aware of air pollution. The flock, dubbed as the Pigeon Air Patrol, is revealing pollution levels throughout London on Twitter.

The idea is to raise awareness among London residents regarding environment. The idea was conceived by DigitasLBi, a global marketing and technology company. Last year, it also won #PoweredByTweets challenge at social network Twitter.

The pigeons selected for the initiative have small backpacks fixed on them to analyze the level of air pollution in an area. Plume Labs, a company headquartered in Paris, designed the lightweight backpacks for the pigeon flock. Sensors in those backpacks measure levels of nitrogen dioxide and ozone in the environment.

People in London who want to know air quality in their area have to tweet to the @PigeonAir Twitter account. The account instantly replies with the air pollution levels in asked location. The company has also designed a live map of the pigeons' flight paths that you can view on the Pigeon Air Patrol website.

Air pollution is among the most serious issues in London and around the globe as it kills about 10,000 persons each year in the England’s capital, said Romain Lacombe, CEO of the Plume Labs. “Putting air sensors on the back of pigeons go beyond raising awareness of this problem and helps Londoners understand the impact of pollution in an accessible, tangible and immediate way”, Lacombe continued.

The pigeon patrol initiative isn’t permanent. According to Plume Labs, the flock of 10 pigeons will fly over London just for three days to tell people levels of air pollution in the city.

Air quality isn’t good these days, and the new scheme was to make people aware of the environment around them, said Pierre Duquesnoy, creative director at DigitasLBi.