Laboratory Evaluation of ARMIE, a Portable SPS30-Based Low-Cost Sensor Node for PM_2.5 Monitoring

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Sensor Technology
• Aerosol Science

Background:

• Low-cost particulate matter sensors offer new exposure monitoring possibilities.
• Rigorous evaluation is crucial before epidemiological study application.
• The SPS30 sensor within the ARMIE portable monitoring sensor-node was assessed.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate the performance of the ARMIE sensor node.
• Assess sensor reliability under various conditions and sources.
• Determine calibration effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Co-location with DustTrak photometer and SMPS+APS instruments.
• Testing across diverse aerosol sources (candle, cooking, smoke, clean air).
• Evaluation under regular and high-humidity conditions; calibration methods applied.

Main Results:

• ARMIE node showed strong agreement with DustTrak (r=0.93-0.98).
• Linear response maintained across emission types; calibration improved accuracy.
• Moderate agreement with SMPS+APS (r=0.74-0.94), with underestimation at high concentrations.

Conclusions:

• The ARMIE node demonstrates high correlation with the DustTrak.
• Low-cost optical sensors can reliably track particle concentration changes.
• Validated performance supports application in exposure monitoring and epidemiological research.