Practical Guidance for Using PurpleAir Particle Monitors for Indoor and Outdoor Measurements in Community Field...

Area of Science:

• Environmental monitoring
• Sensor technology
• Public health

Background:

• Low-cost particle monitors are increasingly used in community science.
• Limited data exists on their long-term performance in residential settings.
• PurpleAir PA-II monitors are widespread for indoor/outdoor air quality studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• Provide practical guidance for using PurpleAir PA-II monitors in field studies.
• Address data handling, performance assessment, and data collection success.
• Inform best practices for residential air quality monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Developed tools for merging Wi-Fi and microSD card data.
• Assessed monitor performance via laboratory co-location and field measurements.
• Evaluated data collection success rates for Wi-Fi and microSD card storage.

Main Results:

• Post-processing methods successfully aligned data from both sources.
• >90% of monitors showed high precision in lab co-location.
• MicroSD card use increased data collection success to >80% (vs. <50% for Wi-Fi only).

Conclusions:

• PurpleAir PA-II monitors offer a viable low-cost option for residential air quality monitoring.
• MicroSD card data acquisition is crucial for reliable data collection.
• Guidance provided enhances the usability and reliability of these monitors in community studies.