Feasibility of Air Quality Monitoring from Transport Vehicles

Abstract

The rapid growth of megacities has led to higher levels of air pollution in cities. To supplement fixed air quality monitoring sites, the megacities offer an unprecedented opportunity to deploy air quality sensors on public transportation systems, and thus enable air quality monitoring at different locations in the city within the routes of the transport means. In this paper, we leverage this opportunity and show the feasibility of deploying air quality sensors on the means of the transport system by installing three low-cost sensors on three trams that operate on three different routes in the city of Helsinki. Our measurement campaign took place during the summer and autumn of 2019, during which we measured main traffic pollutants and meteorological variables. Specifically, we show the variability of pollution levels in different locations using pollution hotspots captured by one of the sensors for two of the main air pollutants. That is, we demonstrate the potential of deploying the sensors on public transport systems and show the feasibility and effectiveness of such an approach for pollution hotspot detection; this can enable real-time air quality information streaming, and thus contribute to the cities' air quality repositories used for the public.