Low-Cost Sensor Node for Air Quality Monitoring: Field Tests and Validation of Particulate Matter Measurements

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Public Health
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Air pollution remains a significant public health concern, necessitating effective air quality monitoring.
• Traditional stationary monitoring stations have limitations in spatial coverage.
• Mobile, low-cost sensors offer a promising alternative for comprehensive regional data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present air quality measurements from a novel low-cost sensor node (sensor-box).
• To compare sensor-box data with a regional air quality monitoring network.
• To evaluate data filtering methods for improving measurement accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Field tests deploying geo-tagged sensor-boxes on municipal utility vehicles in Central Switzerland.
• Validation of sensor-box measurements against a reference station from the regional air quality monitoring network.
• Application and discussion of various data filtering techniques to remove outliers.

Main Results:

• Sensor-boxes demonstrated coherent measurement patterns during field tests.
• A good agreement was observed between sensor-box data and the reference monitoring station during side-by-side validation.
• Data filtering methods were crucial for refining the dataset.

Conclusions:

• Mobile, low-cost sensor networks can effectively supplement traditional air quality monitoring.
• The developed sensor-box shows potential for enhanced spatial air quality assessment.
• Rigorous data filtering is essential for reliable mobile air quality data.