Abstract
A low-cost air quality station has been developed for real-time monitoring of main atmospheric pollutants. Sensors for CO, CO2, NO2, O3, VOC, PM2.5 and PM10 were integrated on an Arduino Shield compatible board. As concerns PM2.5 and PM10 sensors, the station underwent a laboratory calibration and later a field validation. Laboratory calibration has been carried out at the headquarters of CNR-IBIMET in Florence (Italy) against a TSI DustTrak reference instrument. A MATLAB procedure, implementing advanced mathematical techniques to detect possible complex non-linear relationships between sensor signals and reference data, has been developed and implemented to accomplish the laboratory calibration. Field validation has been performed across a full “heating season” (1 November 2016 to 15 April 2017) by co-locating the station at a road site in Florence where an official fixed air quality station was in operation. Both calibration and validation processes returned fine scores, in most cases better than those achieved for similar systems in the literature. During field validation, in particular, for PM2.5 and PM10 mean biases of 0.036 and 0.598 µg/m3, RMSE of 4.056 and 6.084 µg/m3, and R2 of 0.909 and 0.957 were achieved, respectively. Robustness of the developed station, seamless deployed through a five and a half month outdoor campaign without registering sensor failures or drifts, is a further key point.
Highlights
Air quality has a huge impact on the quality of life, and long-term exposure to polluted air can result in permanent health issues [1]
PM2.5 and PM10 sensors integrated in the system; (ii) fine and reliable results achieved during both calibration and validation processes; (iii) development of a calibration procedure implementing advanced mathematical techniques to detect possible complex non-linear relationships between sensor signals and reference data
510the10 Calibration frequencyResults distribution of PM 2.5 and PM10 concentrations measured by the DustTrak is plotted, as well as the corresponding log-normal density function
Summary
Air quality has a huge impact on the quality of life, and long-term exposure to polluted air can result in permanent health issues [1]. A number of epidemiological studies have clearly linked atmospheric pollutants to asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks and strokes [2,3,4]. For these reasons, air quality monitoring is required by national air quality regulations, such as the European Directive. Monitoring of air pollutants is primarily performed using analytical instruments, such as optical and chemical analysers [6]. Air pollutant analysers are complicated, bulky and expensive, with each instrument costing anywhere from about 6000 to tens of thousands euros, together with a significant amount of resources required
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
