Abstract
The rapid evolution of air sensor technologies has offered enormous opportunities for community-engaged research by enabling citizens to monitor the air quality at any time and location. However, many low-cost portable sensors do not provide sufficient accuracy or are designed only for technically capable individuals by requiring pairing with smartphone applications or other devices to view/store air quality data and collect location data. This paper describes important design considerations for portable devices to ensure effective citizen engagement and reliable data collection for the geospatial analysis of personal exposure. It proposes a new, standalone, portable air monitor, GeoAir, which integrates a particulate matter (PM) sensor, volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor, humidity and temperature sensor, LTE-M and GPS module, Wi-Fi, long-lasting battery, and display screen. The preliminary laboratory test results demonstrate that the PM sensor shows strong performance when compared to a reference instrument. The VOC sensor presents reasonable accuracy, while further assessments with other types of VOC are needed. The field deployment and geo-visualization of the field data illustrate that GeoAir collects fine-grained, georeferenced air pollution data. GeoAir can be used by all citizens regardless of their technical proficiency and is widely applicable in many fields, including environmental justice and health disparity research.
Highlights
Personal exposure to air pollution occurs through dynamic interactions between an individual and air pollutants [1]
To meet the first criterion, the device should integrate the following features: (1) high-quality but low-cost particulate matter (PM)- and volatile organic compound (VOC)-sensors developed by an experienced manufacturer of environmental sensors to ensure data accuracy; (2) a built-in data logger to store the complete data and prevent the data loss that can occur when only relying on a smartphone application to store data; (3) GPS and Wi-Fi for outdoor and indoor positioning; and (4) an LTE modem for near real-time, wireless data transmission to ensure continuous data collection
This novel instrument is fundamentally different from existing consumer devices because it was primarily designed for geospatial assessments of personal exposure and community-engaged research
Summary
Personal exposure to air pollution occurs through dynamic interactions between an individual and air pollutants [1]. A challenge in personal exposure assessments is that air pollution concentrations are constantly changing over space and time, and individuals (receptors) move through various geographical areas to live, work, and play [5]. This complex reality of exposure has provoked a paradigm shift from static, residence-based, aggregate-level approaches to the study of environmental exposure/heath to mobility-based, individual-level approaches in recent years [6,7,8]. Accurate assessments of personal exposure require two critical components:
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